Only 4 more days!

Well, as you might have gathered from my last post, this school year has gotten off to a rough start. However, things are starting to look up. My wonderful family came to my rescue a couple of weeks ago and it has made a world of difference. Most of my stress was coming from the fact that I felt like I wasn't able to get ahead with what I was wanting to do at school. So...mom, Jessica, Aunt Barbara and Valarie came down for a weekend and helped me work in my classroom! It was AWESOME! The weight that is off my shoulders since then is remarkable. We worked on Saturday from 9am to 6pm and then cut out some more laminating at my house later that evening. It was fun, but let me tell you how we knew our brains were friend toward the end of the day:
One of the things we were working on was making some winter type hands-on activities to go in my centers so my mom and Aunt Barbara were coloring and cutting out gingerbread men and gingerbread houses. Here is how the conversation went:
Mom: 'What color do you want your buttons Mr. Gingerbread Man?'
Silence
Mom: 'I can't hear you!'
Good times and yes, Aunt Barbara had her scissors packed in her purse. :)
There are still rough patches in every day, like today when we were walking down the hall on the way to lunch (always a disaster) and one kid tripped over another and before I knew it, four of them were on the ground. Dominoes! However, I have a bright moment everyday that reminds me why I do what I do. I think God gave me this year with these kids to remind me how much I need to lean on Him for strength and wisdom.
My most recent and consistent bright moment is one of my brand new little boys who came to me at the beginning of the year full of meltdowns and knowing the word 'fish'. That's it. Now I hear him say at least five new words every day and his smile will melt your heart. Sweet, sweet boy.
Well, time to go cook dinner and then off to volleyball. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Mercy!

I don't know what else to title this post. It is my most common word used this year at school. I have never experienced anything like the year I am having. In the past I thought people were crazy for getting burned out over their job, but now I understand where that is coming from. It is a combination of kid number one, data, three year olds, kid number two, data, ever-changing curriculum, kid number three who clawed kid number four in the neck today, data, 'oh, could you please change your room to look like this', kid number five, 'could you please switch _____ and ______ in their small groups for the millionth time', kid number six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve who have turned three within the last four months and are clueless, data, walking 18 three and four year olds down a forever long hallway to the playground, kid number thirteen who thinks its fun to flop on the ground 30-40 times a day in a four hour period while screaming, more data, 10 kids on the autism spectrum, one kid with Down's Syndrome, kid number forteen who likes to eat the rice in the sensory table, ARD meetings where no one listens to the teacher who works with the kid all day (after all what do I know), kid number fifteen who imitates EVERYTHING kid numbers one, two, and three say and/or do, data, kid number sixteen who likes to run away while looking back at you and smiling, data, kid number seventeen who will have an accident in his pants before he will just go to the bathroom if its not the next item on his schedule, did I mention data?, and finally kid number 18 who just started today after turning three last week.
Thanks for letting me vent! I'm sure none of that makes a bit of sense, but welcome to the world of my brain on a 24/7 basis. Too many kids and not enough hands is the moral of this story. I feel like I play 'Wack a Mole' everyday. I get one situated and then I turn around and another one is out of wack and on and on the day goes.
I keep thinking 'it will get better, its the beginning of the year'. Um...surprise! It's now November! I've resigned myself to the fact that this is going to be the norm for this school year! Thus, the title. I need it and the kids need it from me if we are all going to survive!
It used to be that my job was birth control. Now, I'm starting to think that if I get off birth control and have a child of my own life would be great! Only one to worry about, not 18! And... the only crazy parent to deal with is myself! :)
How many days until Thanksgiving break?