Living Life
Life’s just been rolling along here at Chez Possum. The school is having a book fair this week, so I’ve volunteered over there a couple of times. It is certainly interesting to see everything from a parent’s perspective instead of a teacher’s perspective. I would have been a much, much better teacher if I would have had a kid of my own. Because every 22 year old needs a baby!
Not that there is anything wrong with a 22 year old having a baby, but I was unattached and very naiive. I didn’t need a baby. I don’t know how teachers have time to teach and have a baby. I was usually working till 11 pm every night my first couple of years.
I guess I’m now in charge of grading math facts tests for Erik’s class once a week. It’s quite a system and I don’t really understand it, but I figure I’ll get the hang of it. I wish they did Accelerated Math instead, but they’ve never heard of that. I wonder if they do Accelerated Reading? I hate AR. I understand the point and think it could be useful if used carefully, but I’ve only ever seen it abused. I don’t know how you can make kids like reading, but forcing them to only pick books from a certain list sucks. The best way I know to get kids to read is to put high interest books in front of their faces. And maybe read the first chapter out loud. And do voices. I like to do voices. I’m a dork.
[Aside: how are Pop-Tarts considered appropriate breakfast food? Inspired by a commercial.]
I am so glad Erik lucked out and got a great kindergarten teacher. I don’t know how she does it, but she has the calmest, quietest kindergarten class I’ve ever seen. At first I thought I was just a really sucky substitute teacher and this was normal classroom behavior, but then I hung around and saw all the other classes at the book fair. I don’t know her secret, but she needs to share it with the other teachers. Especially the fifth grade teachers. The fifth graders were exhausting. They came in like a wave of chaos, scrambled up all the books, and left without a backwards glance.
One of the kindergarten teachers wouldn’t even let the kids write their names on their wishlist papers. I was pretty shocked by her attitude–“They can’t do it, I’m not going to let them do it.”
Whaaaaaa? What happened to high expectations?
She was not a special needs teacher. I know a couple of the kids in her class.
Erik’s teacher not only expected her kids to write their names down, she expected them to do their best to copy down the names of the books. I think I would have to have a freakin’ conniption fit if Erik was in the other lady’s class. He’s been able to write his name since he was 3 years old. That was the expectation at his preschool, not some kind of helicopter parent move on my part.
Elsa continues to delight. I wish I could fold up our days together and pull them out in 20 years or whenever I need a pick-me-up in the future. If she’d been my first, I would probably be working on baby 3 or 4 right now.
Or not. I enjoy sleep. I will have sleep again someday. Right?
Not that she doesn’t get in toddler trouble. I still don’t know how she got an egg out of the fridge, cracked it into my junk drawer, and left the almost perfect shell on the counter.
I want to record all the cute things she does, but it’s not really interesting to read or write about. How can I capture the tilt of her head and the sparkle in her eye? Guess that’s what a video camera is for, eh? I’m not so good with the video camera.
The biggest, most exciting news of my life is that I’ve finally figured out what to do with my dining room. I am so sick and tired of all the clutter. The amount of paperwork that Erik brings home is staggering. Plus, of course, we have bills, coupons, yadda yadda yadda. It all ends up on my dining room table and I never know where to put it. My dining room already has a shoe dresser from IKEA, a buffet table thing that’s supposed to hold craft supplies, a kid’s table and a big recycling bin. My mom keeps telling me to put a desk in there too, but where? There’s no more room!
I put my brain to the problem and decided I need some wall pockets aka wall files. Problem? All the ones I can find look way too office like. I don’t need my dining room to remind me of a depressing office door. I just started looking so I’m sure I’ll come up with something. I’m not allowed to buy anything until Nov. 1 anyway if we want to keep the month in the black.
How did it get so late? Guess I’ll go to bed.