Starting to count the days of 5 AM mornings now. School gets out the 2nd full week of June, and then we're off to summer program.
I don't know exactly how many 5 AM mornings that is, let me go count them. Don't go away while I perform this important task....
24.
That's it. Which of course explains the whole 'why the hell are the kids acting like piranhas'? thing.
They always do at the end of the school year. Yeah, they're a little bit more rowdy, and they know they're just marking time because some educrat somewhere decreed that they needed to serve their full sentence, even though their time will be spent in activities that have (gasp) NOTHING to do with testing and the bullshit that surrounds it.
I've been getting out the fuse beads for them on a fairly regular basis, because having little things to do with their hands seems to help. They can still converse while they make their projects, but their hands are busy rather than wandering.
Have three fifth grade boys who can NOT keep their hands off each other. Just can't do it. I say things like, "I think it's really sweet how you want to hold your friend's hand, James*, but I wish you wouldn't do that here."
Of course they don't want anyone to think they're holding hands. So they stop. Temporarily.
And that's what I'm going to do, too. Stop. Temporarily. It's after 9, I go to bed at 9.
Hope you have a good day, free from kids who are crabby because they're stuck in school when the weather is fairly nice, they don't have any homework or other busywork that must be done and they're just... marking time.
I'm glad I have a lot of stuff for them to be creative with!!
Hang in there... 24 to go... and I totally get it... I know for me... once the weather turned nice... I checked out.... and only hoped for field trips.
ReplyDeleteI was 'checked out' for 99% of my school career. I can't remember ever turning in homework. Ever. Which would get you a firing squad these days.
DeleteI attended the last four years of high school solely for music classes. Everything else was just.. shit.
My daughter is marking time until the girls get out. She can't wait to NOT have to wake up to an alarm clock. I remember what that was like.
ReplyDeleteI know the parents in my program are excited for school to get out, too. Or most of them. There are a couple wondering 'what am I going to do to keep little Boopsie entertained all summer?'
DeleteBut not having to get up to a shrill beep? Heaven.
5AM is brutal. I don't know how you do it.
ReplyDeleteI've never been a morning person (especially with cranky kids). I hope on day 25 you can sleep, sleep, sleep!!!
xo jj
I do it because it's part of the job. And because MOST days, I can come home from the morning shift, heat up my flax filled packs for my feets and go BACK TO BED, sometimes for a 3 hour nap.
DeleteWhich keeps me running, although not necessarily on all cylinders. HA.
5a is brutal.
ReplyDeleteIn order to get off early yesterday to attend a spring concert at school - why these programs are scheduled during the work day I have no idea - I had to start work at 355a! to get off by 1225p!! Was the longest ass day ever!!!
Good luck with the kids :)
I always wonder about stuff like that, too... do they just not want the parents to attend? I know how important it is to kids to have their parents there, too.
DeleteHappy Friday (since that's when I'm replying to this!!)
My ex-friend the Kindergarten teacher once said proudly, "we're all done teaching by the end of May." I said, "then why bother making the kids keep going until the first of June?" She just stared at me.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder we aren't friends anymore.
I think we'd get somewhere with the ongoing educational debate in this country if we could start out by confirming that for many, many people, school is first and foremost, 'free' daycare. That's why they must attend a certain amount of days. They're certainly not getting much one on one instructional time.
DeleteOf course it's not free. We pay and pay and pay. In the district where I work, it's approaching nine thousand dollars per year per pupil... and they never have 'enough' money to avoid budget cuts.
You know, holding children hostage in all ways.