They're YOURS Now

Parents, I feel your pain.

School is out and tomorrow morning when you wake up, YOU get to figure out what to do to keep them busy and out of mischief. When they have little hissy fits with their siblings, they're YOURS. When playdates go south with tears and/or words, YOU get to take to them about using nice words with their friends. When they have activated their selective listening skills, YOU get to figure out how to get their attention.

Okay, I'll help you with that last one. Because I'm nice like that. Just whisper "do you want some ice cream?" in your softest voice, preferably a whole room away. Then, when all eyes are fastened eagerly in your direction, you can ask them to clean their rooms.

I love them all. I cried when I got my fifty-seven little hugs and said goodbye. I especially cried over my little guy that is moving back to California because I won't see him next year like the other almost-first-graders. How do teachers with high transient rates handle it? Because we lost two kindergartners this year. (Okay, we didn't actually lose them, because that wouldn't be very professional. It's more like we unwillingly allowed their parents to move them to another school. It was hard for us, but we figured that it would be even harder for their families to live in a different state than their kids. The sacrifices we teachers make sometimes.) And our two little transfers are still in our hearts. But they are YOURS now.

And tomorrow morning, there will be no alarm clock blaring in my ear. I'll lie in bed and plan a day of things that do not include teaching. I'll garden if it's nice and sew if it isn't. I'll use the Furminator on Kharma. I'll cook something time-consuming. I'll go for a walk with my summer walking companions (hurray!) and I'll start lifting weights again. I'll wear short or jeans and a Roxy shirt. I'll pull my hair back into a ponytail and find some hippie earrings to wear. I'll take photos and play with Movie Maker. I'll waste time reading a silly novel outside in the sun. It sounds good. It sounds relaxing.

I love summer's slower pace of life.