This weekend my soon to be step daughter, Kory, will be having a sleep over. Six sixth grade girls. Kristie gave her the okay since it’s been quite awhile since she has had a full fledge sleep over, (I think the last one was her birthday a few years ago - Kristie had to work late, so I had to keep the girls entertained, which wasn’t that hard because that’s basically what I do for a living. So I ran to the Dollar Store for prizes and typed up a list of trivia for them).
Last night we went to Walmart and Kmart to stock up on supplies. When we were in Walmart looking at Halloween supplies, Kory said, “Let’s get these for prizes (she was reaching for a couple of bags of fake eyes and spiders) for Friday. Then you can do trivia again.” So I guess I get to MC the event again until Kristie gets home. This means getting pizzas in the oven, doing the trivia, starting a pumpkin carving contest. By that time I’ll be too worn out to make the football game. Seven sixth grade girls running around the house will be a challenge. Thankfully Kristie will get home from work around quarter to six to save the day. She is by far the coolest mom I’ve ever met, and she’ll be right in her element with the kids.
Unfortunately, she has to work Saturday until noon. So instead of lounging around and watching college football, I’ll be making pancakes.
Truth be told - I love this parenting stuff.
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I just finished grading theme #3 (an essay on a rite of passage or epiphany) for my two Composition classes. I was surprised, and saddened, by the number of papers written about divorces or foster care. One girl wrote about learning of her parents’ divorce on Christmas! Another wrote about how she had to take herself and her little brother to live with a friend because her mom spent all of her money on alcohol and drugs and she wasn’t sure where her father was.
Reading such essays gives me just a peek at the kind of horrors some of my kids have going on in their lives. It sure puts grading papers into perspective in the grand scheme of things. It also reminds me to be more compassionate and understanding. It also makes me want to tell all the other kids who write about learning how to ride bikes, learning that Santa or the Tooth Fairy aren’t real, or learning how to hunt how fortunate they really are compared to some of their classmates.
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There has been some uproar this week about watching the Twins in class. Personally, I didn’t show them. The game fell during my Advanced Writing class, so we had too much to do - despite the protest from the guys - to waste time watching the Twins. I did let them track them every so often on my computer. I know more than a few teachers actually showed the game during class. I don’t have a problem with that. One even threw a pizza party for it.
The Twins’ second playoff game happened to fall during our common prep meeting yesterday. The leader of the common prep meeting (one of the gurus I wrote about in a previous entry) was particularly shocked at both the number of teachers who actually showed the game and the kids who demanded to watch it during class. So for fun another teacher and I decided to antagonize her during common prep. We were the first to the meeting so I posted a note on the door that said on account of the Twins game common prep was canceled and that we were having a pizza party instead. The other teacher went a step further. He actually hooked a TV up in the common prep meeting room and with the help of the librarian, who was in on our scheme, actually broadcast the game! Well, our guru was none to happy. But it was funny. Sometimes I find myself in the role of a 15 year old antagonize instead of a 33 year old teacher. But it keeps me young at heart at least.
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