Last week was chaotic. It's been a full week since I last blogged, which is lame.
The pinnacle of chaos was Wednesday night, which is Open House. Every year, it's one of those nights when I seriously evaluate my 50 minute commute to work. While all of the other teachers leave the building to go home, eat dinner, see their families, and get gussied up, I stay at school through the afternoon and evening. My classroom gets cold and the flourescent overheads keep turning off automatically while I sit at my desk and grade or plan. I have to stand up and wave my arms around to get the lights to switch back on. I split up the time with little food breaks--a snack at 4, a frozen burrito heated up in the microwave at 5:30. And then finally, the parents begin to wander through the halls like lost cattle and the night picks up.
I actually love Open House night. I love guessing which parents' faces match those of my students. The parents often even sit in the same seats where their students sit! Uncanny. And I like the opportunity to share what is going on in their daughters' and sons' classrooms.
Then, it's 8:30 and I remember that it's late, I have a long ride home, and I will be back on the road driving the other way at 6:20 the next morning. This year, a colleague and I walked out of the building just as a cloud zoomed across the sky to reveal a bright moon. It was quite an occult moment.
Open House night means that I don't see my son for almost 48 hours--from bedtime on Tuesday night until late afternoon on Thursday. (I leave the house before he gets up in the morning.) This creates all kinds of logistical gymnastics with my husband, the grandmas, and his daycare provider. And more importantly, I just miss my boy. I did peek in on him while he was sleeping when I got home from Open House. He was sprawled out in his crib in the style that Don Draper (any Mad Men fans out there?) recently described as "sleeping like a skydiver."
Well, thank goodness for crisp, cloudless September Saturdays spent close to home.
PS: I am aware that this blog no longer really fits my original description. I think I'd rather change my description than change my blog postings. I'll get on that.
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I'm a commuter, too. I also had Open House last week and have the same feeling! This year, I brought my bike to work and went for an hour pedal, then came back to my room all sweaty and changed back into my dress and the parents didn't let on that my hair was hanging in my face and I had a bit of salty sweat on my forehead because I forgot to wash my face! Oh well, it was a great Open House. I hope you are enjoying this gorgeous weekend with your son!
ReplyDeleteYou captured the essence of open house perfectly. I watch Mad Men, but I have seen that episode with the sky diver comment, or did I miss it. I enjoy reading your blog, whatever its purpose. Keep going.
ReplyDeleteLast week must have been the week for school open houses. I attended one in a nearby school where I am working. With the advent of MLTI, an incentive for parents' attendance is their students can't take laptops home until the parent has signed a permission in a face-to-face visit. Attendance still seemed rather sparse. Others?
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