So Ready

(image from google)

This is how I feel at this moment. I have the next five days to sleep in, relax, and do anything but school work. This could not have come at a better time. Even though it was only a two-day school week it seemed like a long one. Especially today. I had two kids throw up (one on himself and his chair) one cry uncontrollably, and one come in from recess with blood dripping from his mouth. I really need this vacation!

The Not-So-Perfect Christmas Present

I drew Lacey's name for Christmas this year. I wanted to get her something unexpected. Something fabulous. Something that would make her super happy (because she is pretty much the greatest sister ever, so she deserves a fabulous gift). I pondered on what to get her for a long time. You may be wondering how I could have pondered a long time when it is only November. Steve has been wanting to draw names since August. Anyway, I thought long and hard about what to get her. Then one day, while I was doing my hair, it hit me. I had come up with the perfect gift idea for Lacey.

At that point it was just an idea. It took several weeks of internet shopping to find what looked like exactly what I wanted. It looked perfect. I ordered it and anxious awaited its arrival. It came today. I immediately suspected something was wrong when I saw the box, and the size of the box. When I saw it I looked something like this:

Maddie had to imitate:

What I thought would be the perfect Christmas present was NOT at ALL what I thought I had ordered. In fact, every person who has seen it so far has laughed. Hard. My Grandma thought I had bought it off of e-bay (used) and commented that it must have been somebody's white elephant. It could be, but since I bought it new, I doubt it.

So now I have to figure out how to return this thing, and a new gift for Lacey! Any ideas?

Grown-Ups

Student: Transformers is a bad movie
Me: Oh really? (I've never seen it, so I have no opinion)
Student: Yep, they kiss too much.
Me: But they are grown up's so that is okay. (you would be amazed at how many times you have to tell first graders that they are not allowed to kiss at school)
Student: It's still gross
Me: You won't think so one day
Student: Are you a grown up?
Me: What do you think?
Student: I don't know!

(wish I knew, myself!)

My New Obsession

I have always been a person who likes things clean. Clean hands, clean clothes, clean living space, etc. Bathrooms without soap and paper towels drive me crazy! (and yes, I really do flush most public toilets with my foot) I have had people ask me how I managed to live outside of the United States, and honestly, I don't know. I think I must have shut off that part of my brain for a while, because it didn't seen to bother me as much in Brazil or China.

I have also learned to ignore certain things as a first grade teacher. I made sure that my students used hand sanitizer often (which is easy because they LOVE the stuff), and wiped my room down once a week, but beyond that I didn't do too much. Then flu season hit. I had five students out one week. Four the next, and so forth. It was time to let the cleanliness part of me take over again. It was at that point I fell in love with these:

And this:

I now use them daily. The smell of the Lysol spray is a bit much for me, so I don't use it until right before I leave. I finish all of my work, then wipe off all my tables with Clorox wipes, and spray the door handles, sink, hand sanitizer, pencils, etc. I then make a quick exit before the smell takes over. The next morning I feel much better about entering my room. I also have each student scrub down their desk with a Clorox wipe each Friday. This last week I found out one of my students had pink eye. I used my Lysol quite liberally, hoping to keep anyone else from catching it!

I am happy to report that the absences in my class have gone down dramatically since I started doing this. It may just be that the first wave of the flu moved on, but I am hoping that it has something to with these fabulous products. I am a big fan!

Do you ever . . .

Lose something and drive yourself up the wall looking for it, then realize it has been with you the whole time?

I finally found it when I got home from school. I think I am losing my mind.

Millie

Thoroughly Modern Millie is one of my all time favorite musicals, so whenever it is being put on close by I make sure that I get to one of the showings. I went with some friends last night, and I was not disappointed! We had great seats - when Emily saw where we would be sitting she exclaimed "We will be able to see their faces!" Which we could. It was awesome!

Even though I have seen it several times, the script continues to make me laugh out loud! There was a line that really stuck out to me last night. It is in the scene when Jimmy is telling Millie about all the little odd jobs that he does from day to day. Millie asks: "And you make a living?" to which Jimmy replies "I make a life."

The cast did very well, and by the time we left I was ready to dance to the car. Nothing like a this musical to make you wish you could tap! So, so fun! Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era!

The Pilgrims, and the First Graders

Because it is already November (can you believe it?), and because it takes us FOREVER to get through a read aloud book, my class started our Thanksgiving read aloud yesterday. If I have figured everything out correctly, we will finish it right around Thanksgiving, which would be perfect. I had this conversation with my students as I was introducing the book:

Me: Who knows who the Pilgrims were?
Student: They were little people!
Me: Um, I think they were pretty normal size.
Different Student: Oooooo . . . and they were green!
Me: (WHAT?!?!) Well, they looked a lot like us.

Okay, I understand that first graders often get the Pilgrims and the Pioneers mixed up. But since when have they been mixing up Pilgrims and Leprechauns? Or were they thinking aliens? It is going to be a long month!