MIA

I've been thinking about my blog and  how much I have missed writing on it. I did not realize that it has been over a month since I last checked in with a post. I feel like I have been MIA for awhile. 

We are in full swing around here with school. Chloee is in Kindergarten and enjoying every minute of it. She had a play date last week with one of her classmates. She is learning how to read. It is so fun to listen to her sound out the letters and start connecting the words. Chloee takes Ballet on Mondays and is loving that. 

Declin is busy in the 4th grade. He has all male teachers this year and it is a welcome change. We are having a much better year. His homework is getting harder  and not coming as easy for him as in the past. He has totally immersed himself in football. I am loving and hating it at the same time. I plan to post more on his football experience soon.

Tony lost his job at the beginning of September. It has been a blessing in disguise.  He has become "Mr Mom". He now gets Declin to the bus stop in the morning and picks him  up after school. He takes Chloee to school and picks her up. This is a huge help to me, as I can go to school much earlier in the morning and get things done in my classroom which makes for a much better day.  He was doing the laundry and I totally appreciated it- until my clothes started getting tighter and I was not gaining any weight. I tried to be polite and tell him that he did not have to do my laundry, but I appreciated him doing the kids and his. Well I guess I was not polite enough- he stopped doing it all together. I like to do laundry- so it was nice to be able to take that back. He has gotten a chance to spend quality time with the kids that he missed when he was working long hours and traveling. It has given him a chance to take part in the homework process and to see that staying home is not always as easy as it looks when you have to get kids two different places, monitor the homework, laundry, clean house and still try to find time for a life outside of the home. He said to me this week "Wow! I think staying home and running the house is harder than working out in the field.". Hmmm.... wonder where he heard that  before.

I went full time this year. I am now teaching every day. I have the same class on M-W-F- that I have been teaching for the last 5 years, but I have now added two 3 year old classes on T- Thursday. It is a lot of work- but so worth it. I sometimes wake up in the morning- wondering what day it is- so I can process which class I have- which kids I will have that day and which parents I will be talking to. The first couple of weeks- really made me wonder if I had made a mistake in saying yes to the 3's class. That is a whole different dynamic than the Transition Class on M- W-F. Things are a little crazy busy, but I think I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as far as learning to manage my time now that I don't have the two days off during the week like before. 

I have really good classes this year. Lots of boys and a few girls scattered through out. One of my afternoon classes only has 6 kids in it. 5 boys and 1 girl. She can hold her own against anyone of them. All of them have me wrapped around their little fingers.  - Ok there are two that drive me up the wall and make me question why I am teaching this young of age, but we will work through their issues- and it will get better for them and for me. I have four little ones that speak very little English. This is a huge roadblock for them and for me. They chatter to me in their language and I respond in mine and it frustrates both them and I. One little guy will try very hard to insert some English in with his language and we have come to some understanding of each other.  He has the cutest little smile and that alone lets him get away with much more than the next one that drives me up  the wall and can speak English. I have a little guy in one of my afternoon classes that spoke no English at all. I talked to his mom and she said they don't speak any English in their home so as to keep their home language as the first language.  We are into the sixth week of school now and I have noticed that he is speaking a lot more English than his language. His mom made a point of letting me know this week that he has been begging her to teach him English so he can talk to me since the first day of school. This is my answer to questioning myself as to why I took this on.

There are days that my classroom looks like a cyclone came through and did a major wind dance through the entire room. Paint all over, paper, play dough, toys, chairs, glue, etc all over. These are the days that we hope our director does not bring a tour of potential parents through and of course these are the days that most likely are going to be full of tours. I have accepted that sometimes these things cannot be helped and if they want to see how a typical preschool day goes- this is what the classroom is going to look like. Yet there are times like a couple of weeks ago- things are going fine in the room, the volume is tolerable- the classroom is a bit messy, but not out of control, when you look up and there is a little boy running around butt naked and you hear the director coming down the hall with potential parents wanting to look at your classroom because their child could be a member of your class in the next couple of days. What do you do..... well you grab him and his clothes- while trying not to step on or trip over 6 other kids on the floor, get your assistants attention- she will run to the door and block it- while you are getting him dressed- and just as you button the last button on his pants and set him down in the chair your assistant will back away from the door- just in time for your director to open it and show these parents a classroom ,content, dressed and learning.

I love seeing kids from my class last year around school. They come to my classroom just to say hi, to tell me that they miss me or wish that they could be in my class this year or get a hug from Teacher Lori. I love hearing from parents that their child can't wait to come to school because they like what we are doing in class. I have one parent that told me their child plays school every day and she calls herself Teacher Lori. It really does not get much better than that.

There are days that bring much more than cyclones, wind dances and behavior issues to the classroom.  These are the times that I think about at the end of the day and just laugh and take a breath and know that  all of these things are answers to my question of why I spend excess hours thinking, working on and talking about just for preschoolers. 

So that is life in the Boynton's household at the moment. 

 

 

Comments

[Mom]

This is why we do what we do.

Love,
Dad

[Mom]

Working with Children is such a blessing.....most times! The lives you effect and the impressions you leave.

Love,
Mom

[Kristina]

Hey, I called you Teacher Lori first when you made us play endless school. Also I have decided to blame you for the fact that you are now a working teacher and yet I remain a student...you set me up!! Glad life is going well and that you are n longer MIA. <3

[Kristina]

Of course considering my punctuation and spelling errors maybe being a student isn't a bad spot for me to be. Hee hee.