3 months...almost!

Some of you may be wondering how I am liking my new job...  Well, I am here to tell you that I love it!  Sure, there are days when you just want to crawl back into bed and not face the world, but I had those when I was not working at all!  It has nothing to do with middle school or middle school kids!  LOL  I am really enjoying the atmosphere of middle school...  The kids are still hormonal teens with attitudes, and they still give you grief.  But, it is a much younger and still somewhat respectful grief...  The attitude you see is just kids being kids, as opposed to the high school attitude that often stems from their incorrect belief that they are "an adult" despite the way they act and that teachers disrespect them merely by expecting them to work!  LOL

After teaching social studies for years, it is funny to find myself in a mostly MATH classroom every day!  I always said I wasn't a math person, but I find it is not bad...not bad at all!  If I posted this on Facebook, Joy from LHS would "like" it!  The only bad part is trying to make these kids, who struggle daily with math that is far below their grade level, understand that they CAN do it if they patiently try and work to build their skills.  So many of them are frustrated to a point of what seems like no return...  There are times when you sit working one on one with a student in my room and when the bell rings to note that your time is up you just want to give them a hug and tell them to keep trying...it will be fine...  I've got a couple who I know may never get it...may never pass that danged standardized test.  But, they plod ahead day after day with the thought that maybe...just maybe, it will happen.  Some of my kids try soooooo hard but seem to fall flat each time a new skill is introduced.  It was great this week to see a couple of them get to new skills that, when explained better, were concepts that they "got" and could be successful at.  It is awesome to see them smile and say "ohhhhhh, NOW I get it!"

Also on the school front, Matt is loving preK.  He's come so far in this 3 months!  His speech is better.  He is progressing past the not-sharing, getting in arguments at school stage and becoming an easier going kid.  After suffering for so long with the separation anxiety due to being taken from his parent (mommy OR daddy) every 8 weeks for years, his potty training is finally progressing to the point that he can wear undies most of the day.  

Check out his first "school pic" below!

 And the whole class shot!

And, did I mention that I'm the new President for our local GFWC LaBelle Community Woman's Club??? 

Life with teenagers...UGH!

I have two of this animal--teenagers! Well, technically, I have 3... I have two daughters, ages 16 and 19. Then, I also have a son-in-law who, while actually 20, acts like a teenager most days. My older daughter and her hubby live at his parents' house and have no responsibility to support themselves, but we (hubby and I) aren't supporting them. My 16 year old, however, is another case. We support her. We love her, but honestly wonder if that emotion is reciprocated most days. She is rebellious and has a bad attitude despite being an almost straight A student who does well and doesn't get in trouble at school (thankfully). She just refuses to do anything that we ask of her at home without first fighting it and stalling. She puts more time and work into getting out of doing stuff than it would actually take to DO the task! And, she is getting worse about staying up way beyond her bedtime on the computer once I am asleep myself. She does NO household chores whatsoever. She doesn't sweep floors. She doesn't wash dishes. She doesn't wash laundry. She hardly ever even cooks anything. She does about 15 minutes worth of outside chores (feeding livestock) a day and acts like it is an all day task to do just that bit. I have to say that I am beginning to REALLY look forward to her turning 18 and going off to college. She is one of those kiddos who will be made move out if she doesn't go to college as you can only take so much disrespect before it wears you down!

Rant over! We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming! LOL