Sunday, May 06, 2018

Summer state of mind

I think these two photos represent my upcoming summer life pretty well.

Oh, the joy of reading. I found the Mrs. Pollifax book series lately and I'm looking forward to a long read through 14 of them. Well, 13, as I already read the first. They are cozy spy mysteries with an elderly female main character that turns out to have a knack for spying for the CIA.



And leisurely mornings drinking coffee. Sometimes with whipped cream! Slowly and quietly, from my favorite mug, not guzzled hastily from a Thermos so as to make it to school in time for the first bell.




School, where I work, is coming to an end in 15 work days. In 12 1/2 work days, the children will be released from school, and then we have a remaining 3 days to have our concluding meetings, and pack up our classrooms. School isn't over, and it's incumbent upon the teachers and staff to maintain standards until the end, but in my mind, oh, goodness, in my mind:


What a complete blessing to be able to work with children, educate them and support teachers on a  great team like I have in my school, then to stay at home and recover refresh relax rejuvenate...well, all of the above!

Teaching is demanding work. Gone are the days of snacks and fingerpainting, if they ever existed at all. Teachers work very hard to meed standards the Local Board, State and the Federal Government set, and parents too. It's like an extension of motherhood. Because our work involves real people with real needs from physical, to emotional, to educational, it almost never ends.  Planning, meetings, correcting, hugging, problem-solving, sometimes clothing and nursing, all happen in addition to teaching, all day long.

And I don't even teach. I am support staff, where I support my teacher in doing all of the above. When you invest emotionally and educationally in an entire person, it's tiring. When you do it for 22 little ones every day all at once, it's more than exhausting. The educational or behavioral strategies you apply, the changes you make in order to reach them, the love given out, the sadness when someone needs to be chastised, the heights when they succeed, or depths when they continue to squander their mind due to various reasons...all take a toll.

So summer comes along and as it approaches there comes a bounce in my step and a twinkle on my eye. I feel pretty happy also when moms get to spend valuable time with their kids at home and they do family things away from the hurry and scurry of the busy-ness of school year.

I always have Grande Plans for the summer. I'll write War & Peace! Not really, but huge plans, I never seem to meet them. Admittedly, it takes discipline to maintain a schedule throughout the 9 weeks we have off for summer. (We return on July 30). It takes discipline not to sink into a laziness that expresses itself in sleeping late, staying in pajamas all day, and eating potato chips or popcorn for breakfast (not that it has happened to me, noooo) but one has high hopes every year.

I do tend to wilt in the extreme heat of a southern summer, and I'm not an active person anyway, so much of the time I'll be in my small, cozy, lovely apartment that I love so dearly, reading, studying, listening to sermons, crafting, and watching movies. Alone. That is my summer state of mind.

Soon to make an appearance, first on May 22 at noon when we load the kids onto the buses for the last time of the 2017-18 school year, then again in force on Friday afternoon when we conclude our retirement party for the staff that are finishing strong after many years of service and are dismissed as staff for the last time this year.

Can't wait!!!


1 comment:

Grace to You said...

I'll spend another summer living vicariously through you. :)