Monday- Labor Day. Had the day off. Made a mad dash to the grocery store, went to "5 And Before" to buy some more things for my classroom, and cleaned up the house. Campfire in our backyard to end our summer, but then a big thunderstorm came and rained on our parade, and our fire went out before I wanted it to.
Tuesday- First official day back to work. In the morning, listened to our superintendent talk about teacher evaluations, common core and district expectations and test scores. In the afternoon, had a staff meeting at my school. Came home exhausted. Had to buy a diet coke with caffeine at work to not fall asleep. Took my son to his middle school orientation. OMG- how will he know where to go, what books to bring to his classes and when to go back to his locker? Will he be able to open his locker? A Day, B Day, C Day, D Day- Really???? How will he keep track- everyday he has a different schedule. Big Breath. He'll be fine, I'm sure. But I'm not.
Wednesday- Kindergarten orientation. Meet my new students, had to give a 30 minute presentation to parents about the kindergarten program (ended up only being 15 minutes, since there was no time left, and I ended up talking too quick and acted like I was on Speed or something), then the afternoon, had a training on our new reading program. Again, had to buy a Diet Coke to keep me awake. Came home exhausted. I write on my facebook page that I need a cleaning service- does anyone know a good and reliable housecleaner? This is huge for me, since I like to be in charge of my housecleaning. But, this is a year of balance, and if I buy myself a little treat, this could be it. I don't get my nails done, don't like coffee, so no coffee habit. The only lavish thing I do for myself is I get my hair cut and colored every 2 or 3 months, and I seem to buy a lot of shoes.
Thursday- No meetings at work, but just time to get our classrooms finished up and planning for the upcoming weeks. Actually left work when I can (at 3:30- I never do, usually it's around 5:30), and I made plans to go to the Maroon 5/Kelly Clarkson concert with some of my best friends, to celebrate the end of summer. This was BIG, since tomorrow was the first day of school for our students in my school district. But, I knew I wouldn't sleep good, because I never do on the eve of the First Day. It was a great night out, something we had planned, so we all went. While at the concert, my son who is entering middle school, kept texting me. "Where is my bus information?" "Where is my map of the middle school?" "Where is all the paperwork from the orientation from this week?" I felt guilty that I was at the concert with friends, when I maybe should be home helping the kids get ready for school the next day. Thinking to myself, why doesn't my husband know where all this is? Confirming the fact that I am the one that is in the know about the kids' activities. I still had fun at the concert, am happy I went, because I actually went to bed peacefully and slept through the night since the concert tired me out.
Friday- First Day of school for everyone! Riley goes on his bus at 6:50. He is so big now, I realize as he gets on the bus and I am so thankful that he waves to me from his bus seat and gives me a little cute smile. He knows that I am worried about him, that I love him, and that if he waves and gives me a smile, it will make me happy. I love this kid so much. My daughter is still sleeping when I come back to the house, and I quickly talk her out of the outfit she laid out (when I was at the Maroon 5 concert), because it's the craziest outfit, and if I'm going to take her picture and put it on Facebook, all my friends will think I'm nuts. I tell her that I get to pick out her clothes on the First Day and on Picture Day, and she is OK with that (Thank God) and she tells me she will wear crazy clothes on Monday, which is fine with me because there won't be any pictures that day!! Since her school is on the same campus as my school (that's a positive for me), she can come to school with me. She helps me in my classroom, as I put finishing touches on things and organize myself. She walks down to her classroom, and I give her a big hug. 5 more minutes, my own students are coming in. I am so thankful that none of my new students are crying---YES!!!! When my new students cry, I want to cry right with them. I am feeling so lucky that I have 18 mature and wonderful students, and I can tell the first 30 minutes with them that I will have a fantastic year- yay- no behavior problems!!!!!!!! I have a great day with my students, Maggie joins me in my classroom afterschool, I have an unexpected meeting at 4:00, stay until 5:00, come home to my son, who has been home since 3:30 (this is new- him home from school without us) and I am delighted that our best friends want to have dinner with us. We eat, laugh and don't leave the restaurant until 10:00. Our kids and their kids totally engaged with each other. Us, laughing and catching up about our week.
Today, Saturday: Just vacuumed, haven't called the cleaning service references on my facebook pages yet (am I putting this off?) , stopped at CVS to get my prescriptions, stopped at Urgent Care to do blood work that my doctor wants. I was suppose to run in a 5K with my husband this morning, but thought my daughter's piano lessons started back up again this week (today), but I guess not, since her teacher never came, and my husband called after the race to tell me that she was running in the race too!! So, I totally messed up that!! GRR. Thought I was balanced this week...
Things that worked for me this week:
- My husband was integral this week to my balance. The night I went to the concert, he got lunches all ready, and put the kids to bed at a decent hour. He even made dinner one night for us. And sent me flowers to my school on my first day with my students.
- My night out to Maroon 5- we had it on our calendars, and we all stuck to going, even though 5 of us had to go to work the next day. Schedule free time in advanced, and you will be more likely to do it, and not cancel.
- Being Organized at work- I have spent a lot of time getting organized at school, and that has been so helpful in keeping my stress levels low. Next week, I will need to focus on planning AND organizing, since the first day was just on Friday, and it was a lot of me teaching the kids procedural things.
- Having dinner with friends on Friday night- My friend and I are convinced that if you do something really fun on Friday night, your weekend seems to be longer. So we are talking about doing something every Friday so we have longer weekends. We'll see if we feel like that on Monday morning...
Things that didn't work for me:
- Messing up the 5K this morning. I was supposed to meet some friends and run with my husband, but then realized Thursday night that my daughter had piano and both of us couldn't leave the house, since her teacher comes to our house. But then, I messed it all up. Since her teacher never came, her lessons must start back up again next Saturday. That made me so mad that I messed that up.
This week, I am feeling OK about working and being a mom and wife. It was a short week, with only one day with students. Next week, will be tougher. I can get through it. One day at a time. Remembering Jessica Alba's words, it's all about my attitude. I can do this.
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