Winter "Break" !!

As most of you probably already know, I used to be an Elementary Teacher back before I had Cooper and Gracie. For me, it was one of those things (I guess like anything really :) that had it's ups and downs!

I actually came into it strangely. I graduated from Auburn in December of 1999. Well, December is not really the best time to get a job as a teacher if you can imagine :) Adam and I knew we'd be moving back to Atlanta. It was home, and I think he already had a job by like October or something. I went to a few interviews and job fairs at that time, but all the "good" places to work weren't in need of anyone at that time. I did get some offers from a couple of schools, but they were all situations where I would have 20+ students some of which were from the local orphanage and over 1/2 didn't speak English very well. Unfortunately, I was not the person for that job at that point in my life. And for the people that take on that incredible challenge, I 100% salute you. But coming into it with no experience, I just didn't think I was ready for that kind of heartbreak!!

Ok, so I ended up taking a job at a stationary shop in the mall where my mom worked. I worked there about 30 hours a week from January-July. Again, nothing was really happening in the teacher world for me in the Atlanta area, so I decided to go work for Express instead. You know, Express Limited. The women's clothing store in the mall. I worked there from August 2000-December 15, 2000. Why you ask do I know the exact day that I was no longer an Express employee??? Well, because those were probably some of the worst 4.5 months of my life!!!

Ohhh... you'll only work 40 hrs/week and only one Sunday a month, and only close 2 nights a week, and will RARELY have to come in extra.... Can anyone say BS???? No wonder the pay wasn't all that bad. Because they figured they owned you, no matter what time of day it is. To this day if I get stressed about something I think, "Its just sweaters!" Because if you've ever been in a mall store at 3am trying to calm down another employee who is seriously freaking out about folding sweaters.... let's just say life hits you with some serious perspective!!! :)

Ok... so I keep getting off track! :)

A good friend of mine and one of my roommates from college clued me into job opening within her school where a current teacher was retiring in December. And not only that, it was for an EIP position. That is where you don't have a classroom. I worked with 4th and 5th graders who needed additional help in Reading and Math. Needless to say... it's a TON less work than a regular classroom teacher. And this is NOT to be confused for Special Ed. either. Again, my hats go way off to you Special Ed teachers out there!

So, I took the job and things were good. It was like FATE! The school was seriously located 2 miles from a house that Adam and I had just bought outside of the city. It just WORKED OUT!!

I worked in EIP for the remaining part of the 2001 school year and then that fall, a teacher ended up having to leave for some personal reasons unexpectedly, and I took over her 4th grade classroom. I WORKED my butt off that year!! At school at 7am-6pm just about every day. I spent all day Sunday making lesson plans and grading papers. It was CRAZY. But... I LOVED that class!! :) Generally, that group of your first year of students sticks out in a teacher's mind.

However... the next year was SOOOO not the same! I had a lot of parental and student issues. My principal was terrific! She was extremely supportive of me, which can make a HUGE difference, but when you have nightmares about your students, you know you're stressed!!

It was this year that we first had WINTER BREAK! An entire week off in February. Dreary February!! The one where you're thinking how in the world am I going to make it to April with this bunch!! At the time... it was a lifesaver.

Now the point of all of this is to point out how when I think about teaching now, I think I could be a MUCH better teacher. And I thought I did a pretty good job. I literally put my heart and soul into those little minds and prided myself on not being a "Worksheet Teacher." I wanted to make it fun and exciting and really wanted to challenge them!

Well now that I'm a PARENT and on the "other side of the fence", a lot of my perspective has changed :)

I think back to this one particular student that he and I just majorly butted-heads. I actually think about him a lot and wonder how he's doing. When he was in my class he'd hit that point where he was headed down a not-so-good path. He was on the verge of getting in trouble just enough to be labeled a "trouble-maker." And we all know that when that happens, getting into trouble tends to not take as much anymore and then before you know it, school becomes all about discipline and if they make it out of school with a diploma, well it's a miracle!

I wanted to stay on him and try to keep him in line. But oh... he was out to show me who was boss. Extremely resilient I'll give him that! :) Attention is what I think he ultimately wanted. In retrospect, I think I may have eased up on him a bit. It was hard because every time I gave him an inch, he'd take like 10 miles and then REQUIRE you to reel him back in, but I wish so badly that I could have found that magic formula to keep him balanced.

But... HE was the reason I wanted... NEEDED Winter Break so badly!

Now... my kids are on Winter Break and have been all week. I see now that Winter Break is exactly what I just described... a break for the TEACHERS :) The ones that need an extra week to keep pushing to the end of the year! Because it is certainly NOT a break for parents!!

I guess it is if you travel. But it's not like Spring Break... Spring Break is either about traveling to somewhere warm or enjoying the warm weather that is creeping up outside! It's all about fun trips to the park or beach or fun places like that!!

Winter Break... not so much! It's rained here almost all week. Yeah, we COULD have gone to the aquarium and such, but that stuff can really ADD up!!

So... I've tried to do some fun stuff. McDonalds for ice cream and the playground. Games of Candyland and the "Pirate Game." A trip to my nieces house for a visit. A sleepover party last night with our Best Friend "Della" aka Bella!

Whew!! So this is definitely NOT a "break" for me at least!!

I LOVE having them at home. But honestly, they're bored! Ready to play with their friends and it hasn't helped that we haven't been to the park or anywhere outside to play because it's yucky!

So let's just say that on this coming Tuesday... I can be found feet up on the couch enjoying MY winter break!! :)

Wishing everyone some warm thoughts!

K :)