Back To School!

School started for area counties on Monday this week. It's almost Friday, and I am going to be working my first day as a sub in the new school year. The fun part is that it's at the high school I graduated from, and it's only for half a day, so I don't have to be there until 10:50 a.m. (saving me from a 6 a.m. wake-up call, which would also involve getting the kids up, dressed and out the door!). I am going to "teach" art class! I'm so happy, because it's a fun subject to work with and up til now the only art sub experience I've had was with very young elementary school students (Kindergarten, and first through third graders). I don't think it'll be a complete piece of cake, but it's got to be somewhat less demanding than giving small children scissors, construction paper and glue. And I'll bet that high school students actually clean up their messes when they are asked to!

Ah, high school. It seems like a lifetime ago! My favorite thing was Friday night football games with friends, especially when the weather got a bit cooler and you could wear a light coat and not swelter in the heat. Or maybe senior picnic, out on the football field, with bbq lunches and music and games. Of course, I also loved all of the activities I was involved in. I sang in the chorus, competed academically, and even participated on several of the sports teams in my three years there. High school may not have been the easiest time in my life, but it definitely gave me some good memories.

I'm looking forward to the job, and I am so grateful to two friends who are going to keep the kids for me (one for the first part of the day, the other for the remainder). I put myself in a bit of a mess by accepting the assignment before making sure I had childcare covered, so I am so indebted to those two friends for helping me out in a pinch like this. Subs have to work one day out of every 120, which isn't a problem during the school year...the problem is that summer counts as part of the 120! The last assignment I had was May 7th...if I don't work at least one day before the end of next week, I wouldn't be able to keep my active status as a substitute teacher, and then I'd have to fill out more paperwork and go through all the legwork to get reactivated again.

Time to get some sleep so that I'm ready to roll in the morning. It'll be weird to walk the halls of my Alma Mater again, but it's the second time I've taken an assignment there, so the changes that have been made in the last 13 years won't seem as shocking now (I hope!).

Here's my blog challenge, for any and all who may read this post: What is your favorite high school memory that you would like to share? Leave me a comment and let me know. :)

What Goes Around, Comes Around

All too often this is a phrase that is looked upon in a negative light. But I've been observing my kids lately, and I've come to the conclusion that it can also be positive more often than not.

Megan and Jeremy have been the best of friends since day one. In honesty, they haven't had much choice! They haven't spent more than a few hours apart ever, occasionally split up for doctor's visits or trips to the grocery store. But the bond they share is not one of obligation. It's one that can only be shared by siblings. Don't get me wrong, they have their fair share of spats and quarrels. They don't always respect each others' personal space or state of mind as much as I would like. It warms my heart, however, when they sit close together on the couch, heads huddled close to discuss a favorite book and point at pictures. Megan, who tries to be the little mother to Jeremy, will actually put her arm around him and draw his head closer to hers because she has seen him cuddle up with me or Steve, and she wants the same affection from him.

When they play (most of the time, anyway), there is a common sense of purpose. They pull all the food out of the drawer of their play kitchen, haul their kid-size plastic table over from across the living room, and take turns serving each other a "meal." They pretend to eat the (plastic) food they're served, say "please" and "thank you," and then chatter like they're sharing some important information about their day.

Lately they've been drawn to their alphabet blocks even more than ever. Since they've been identifying letters for almost nine months already, they play games by asking each other where a certain letter is. They even give each other a high-five when the letter is located. :)

It's days like those when I sit back and think about everything that we've been through to get to this point. I miss my old job, miss the people I worked with and the responsibilities I had, but NOTHING compares to the satisfaction of knowing that I am raising my kids full-time, and raising them to know the value of love, respect and appreciation for each other and others. Children truly do learn what they live, and it gives me hope that my children will continue to grow into kind, compassionate and generous people.