
We've all had a few. Days when nothing goes catastrophically wrong, but nothing seems to go right either. Days when we start to wonder if it was really worth getting out of bed for this. Well today was one of those days for me.
After a restless night of trying to sleep, I stumbled out of bed and tripped over my cat who then proceeded to bite my ankle in retaliation. (She is still giving me the cold shoulder.) I jumped in the shower and the hot water ran out just as I was massaging in my conditioner (Herbal Essences Lavender Fusion in case you were wondering. It is delightful!) I hurried through my morning routine and ended up spilling tea on my new skirt that I was planning on wearing to work, and had to quickly iron another. I should have guessed by this point what kind of day lay ahead of me, but I still had high hopes.
Breakfast duty went relatively smoothly until the last five minutes. Now you see there are these two boys who enjoy toeing the line when it comes to rules. Lets call them Bosey and Jrent. We have had a few confrontations, but they have always eventually backed down. Today they decided that they were going to sit in the restricted section of the cafeteria. When I asked them to move they asked me why. When I explained to them that this was the rules they said no, and were very disrespectful. I had no choice but to write them up and give them after school detention. Part of this process is calling their parents and asking when a good time to serve would be. During this phone call I got to hear very graphically what the parents thought of me and the school. That was just bushels of fun.
The rest of the morning consisted of me getting cursed at, my face being spat on by someone who obviously chews, cursed at again, and being told just what an eighth grade boy would do to me if he could have an hour with me. Lovely. I know. I am used to these things happening but not so frequently in one morning. By the time lunch rolled around I was a bit fed up. I was looking forward to sixth hour where I go to help a student of mine. We were going to watch "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" because we just finished our Roald Dahl unit. As I was getting up to leave the teacher I work with, Mr. Swisher, asked if I could go with our newly assigned student to "help control him in his science class." When he used the world control I knew I was in for trouble. This student was awful! He was angry that I was shadowing him and let the entire eighth grade hall know with his shouting and locker hitting. He was so disruptive and derogatory. I was informed by his teacher that this was one of his good days. I truly fail to understand why this boy is in regular classes, but that is a whole 'nother story.
Finally seventh hour comes along. We were preparing for the breakfast burritos that the boys sell on Fridays to raise money for behavior awards. I am usually in charge of the potatoes. (My potatoes are pretty delicious by the way.) I start doing my thing when two of the boys get in a brawl, and the other four decide to join in. Mr. Swisher has to take them in the gym to cool off, and I am left by myself cooking the potatoes, green chili, sausage, bacon, and eggs. The last of those three ingredients literally do make me nauseated when I am around of excessive amounts (I will have my burrito with just potatoes, cheese and green chili thank-you-very-much!) I thought I was doing rather well all things considering, but the boys come back and one of them blows up at me because I let the green chili get too thick. *Sigh* All of them refused to help clean up the kitchen so Mr. Swisher and I were left to do it alone. After what seemed like an eternity, the dismissal bell finally rang.
Now I hope you don't think I'm complaining. I really don't mean it in that way. I know I signed up for this. This was merely a way to vent. I'm happy to report that my day brightened 100% when I drove home with the windows down, the music blaring, and the sunshine warming my body and my mood. It is nice to know that we don't always have to wait for the sun to come out tomorrow- we may just have to wait until the bell rings.