Last night I was simply exhausted. I posted, I read a little, but yesterday was the first day in a long time that I didn't leave the school building with a bag of stuff to work on. It wasn't that I didn't have things to do I just felt like revolting yesterday. I guess it was the anticipation.
Last night hubby and I finally had napped long enough in our respective chairs to get up and go to bed. It dawned on me as I slid between the sheets that I would wake up to the last day of school. So I began chanting, "Last day of school. Last day of school." Hubby finally told me to go to sleep. Sometime later I felt his hand on my stomach. I woke long enough to realize I must have been snoring. So I said, "Was I snoring?"
He said, "Yeah, you were."
"What time is it?" I asked.
He said, "Twelve fifteen."
"You mean it's only been 20 minutes since we came to bed?" I felt a little silly so I started chanting again. This time I said, "Eight weeks off. Eight weeks off."
This isn't usually hubby's best time of the year. He gets a little grumpy as my summer begins because he would like to be home too. However, he knows I'm not sitting around eating bon bons all the time. I work on plans for most of the time I'm off and in July I usually go to school a couple of hours each morning to get my classroom ready.
In response to my second round of chanting hubby said, "Shut up." I rolled over and went back to sleep.
Around 1 a.m. my son came home and we woke for a bit. I did my chanting again. At least hubby laughed this time, but encouraged me to go back to sleep. Soon I heard his even breathing telling me he had drifted off. I lay there, and lay there, and lay there. Finally I started thinking about all the things I need to do to organize my classroom differently. In my mind I started in one corner and worked my way around the room. The next thing I knew it was 6 a.m. and it was the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!
All in all it was a good day. I told my students about my sleepless night and how I kept bothering my husband. I told them I was so happy I felt like Snoopy doing the happy dance. I reminded them what Snoopy looks like and then we all did the happy dance together. They loved it. Luckily I'm at the end of the hall so I don't get many walk-bys. They would have thought we had lost our minds.
We gave out awards in our classrooms (fifth grade gets the big hoo-rah with a formal ceremony, as well they should), a parent brought my team and I lunch from the local Mexican restaurant, there were no fights on the playground, and they all made it to their buses and cars to go home with no major incidents.
I go back next week for post planning but the stress level will be so different. Before I left my classroom today I went ahead and moved all of my desks together and stacked my chairs in groups of four. I picked up all the broken crayons and pencils from the floor and removed all evidence of our snack and soda we had during our afternoon movie just to go ahead and give my "office" that summertime feel.
Summer projects here I come!
12 comments:
Ahh, the Happy Dance. 'Tis indeed the season.
Non-teachers definitely do not like the fact that we have three months off, and it doesn't matter how many hours we spend working on curriculum, or even if we take part-time jobs or graduate classes. At least your husband has some sense of humor about it; my wife definitely does not. Nevertheless she manages to take advantage of it. Beginning in about April, anytime she thinks of a project that can be done around the house, she closes by saying, "After all, you have three months off." In fact, the refrain, "You have three months off!" is heard more often in our house during the spring and summer than "Remember the Alamo!" was heard during the Texas War for Independence. If I am foolish enough to let my wife find me sitting on our deck, basking in the sun and reading a book when she gets home from work, I'm reminded of a couple of lines from that old 80s song by Heart: "If looks could kill; you'd be lying on the floor!"
Dennis, I guess that is the pitfall of being a male teacher. You bring up a good point about nonteachers though. Many people complain about teachers getting paid for their summer vacation. What they don't realize is our 9 months of pay is spread out over 12 months. I'm not paid for doing nothing. I'm paid in June and July for something I've already done. Not many people are willing to do that.
That's one exhilirating post.
I get excited just looking at the picture. This is going to be the first summer in years I haven't worked.
I can't wait.
happy day! happy day! happy day! SUMMER IS HERE! last day for teachers is tomorrow. woohoo!
I'm still a month behind you. Remember me, toiling away in June in Jersey.:(
my summer break started today...i will be working for the next three months; however, i get paid to play with small children at a day camp. can't complain about that one. i'll be getting paychecks to hang out and play kickball...
my boyfriend is jealous. as i've reminded him many times though, i work enough during the nine months i'm in school to more than make up for it.
Congratulations! My school year has ended and I am already preparing for the next. I spent my day at a workshop learning a new program to build a better webpage. Three months off my foot! I'll be preparing half the summer for a new class that I'll be teaching this fall.
My spouse is not amused by the fact I have 3 months off.
Of course, I do become a Domestic God during that time, which satisfies her a little.
My friends don't like it either. They especially don't like it when I call and rub it in.
Poor Janet! We will have to tone our enthusiasm down just a bit as we do still have colleagues out there toiling away. Sorry!
Mike, I like the Domestic God title. I'll have to try it with hubby the next time I need something done.
Yay! Congrats on completing the year!
I love this post! May you dance all summer.
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