Overcoming Slackeritis...

So last night my post on Facebook said I was suffering from Slackeritis. I wasn't suffering from it like I have before, but I was REALLY struggling to stay motivated. Today, I was feeling SO MUCH BETTER and hit the ground running today!

I started with a meeting for our school dedication ceremony. Apparently in this district when you open a new school, you do a dedication ceremony. Fortunately I'm on a staff of people who are far from Slacker-status, so it's going to come together really well. It was a good use of my time.

Then, I started today with students. I can honestly say I like all of them, even though two of them wound up in the "red" seat today. It is the season for setting boundaries, and I'm not making every student just thrilled to be with me. :-) You know, I can be a mean, rotten, horrible, teacher. Just ask my students from last year!

There is one kid that cracked me up today. Granted, he's going to be the student that builds my character the most, but it's always those kids that I love the most. Popkid thought it was funny that I drink Pepsi. I explained to the little people that I don't drink coffee, so don't give me coffee cups for holidays. (Don't worry, I covered a lot of other curricular stuff today, but this is one of my two stories for today) I told them they can buy me a can of Pepsi and M&M's. :-) Well, I needed to cover the serious stuff today! Ha! So, during my lesson, He took my can of Pepsi and I told him, "Look, it has my name on it!" It did, it was written on a sticky note on the can! He grinned and gave it back. So, at the end of the day he was headed to the bus and talked to our secretary and told her that he liked my Learning Center better than the one from last year. The secretary asked Popkid why it was better. To which he replied, "We get Pepsi here!" Now, when I heard that I laughed. Then I told our secretary, "I don't know what planet he was on during class because I NEVER promised Pepsi!' She said this was normal for him. Forget the fact the kid has MAJOR ADHD...like I'm going to give him sugar and caffeine. Seriously, I need to ask him tomorrow about what planet he lives on!

I had another kid, Tiredboy build my character as well. He told me he's ALWAYS tired. He kept putting his head down and saying he was tired. So, after all the kids left, I asked him about his sleep routine. He told me that he watches TV to go to sleep. He said he watches TV until his Mom comes in and turns on "something boring" to make him fall asleep. I asked him if he was afraid of the dark, and he said that was why the TV was on. I said, "Well, how about if you tried a nightlight?" He said his Mom didn't know where to buy those! (Seriously, he said that!) He went on to say that at his Dad's he can't watch TV before bed. I said, "Okay, you can go back to class." After school I called his Mom, who explained that during the Summer he was allowed to watch TV to fall asleep because it didn't matter what time he got up. However, now that she knows he's "always tired" she will take the TV out of his room! Woop! Oh, and the whole nightlight story, he has 6 of them! Go figure.

Finally, Jay and I went on a LONG walk tonight. As we started our usual evening stroll, we heard yelling a few doors down. This honestly isn't unusual, as that couple fights quite a bit. I'm just glad they're not right next to me. So, we headed out. We met Gunnor, who is a tall dog, who wanted to play with Jay. Unfortunately, Jay doesn't have the whole "playing with other dogs" thing down yet. He snapped at Gunnor. So, we started walking and the two kids from the Yellingneighborshouse came walking toward us. I said a prayer, wanting to support them without letting them know I had heard. Needless to say, we wound up on a LONG walk to the park where they both confided in me what was up. My heart leapt for them, as they're just kids and they can't fix a thing. They just have to live in the house with the drama. Trust me, after the last chapter in my life of drama, my heart leaps for them. In the end, the rest of the kids in their family met at the park, and I quietly exited with Jay. I walked home and prayed the whole way home. I remember the feeling of dreading going home because I was afraid of the people in the house. I can only imagine what that looks like for kids. Seriously. So, if you believe in prayer, please pray for the kids. God knows who you're speaking about, and will bless that.

Well, tomorrow begins earlier than usual with a 7:45 Faculty Meeting.

It's a good thing I'm over my Slackeritis. This week would be TOUGH if I wasn't!

Life.
Is.
Good.