Ready....Set....Go!!!!

Back to Blogging...

I was hesitant to blog another year but as you can see I'm doing it again! For those following our Munchkinville antics for the last 3 years...get ready for some more adventures. With the loopy looping I do, I'm back down in Kindergarten this year!! ~Yay!! Those new to our world in Munchkinville you'll be exposed to some adventures that occur in our classroom! Names are changed to protect the innocent ~as well as the teacher! heehee! It's a very informal blog where you'll follow us through our adventures...we'll laugh a lot and cry a lot! Enjoy the journey of another school year with us!

First Day with Munchkins!

Today was the first day in the classroom with all the new little munchkins! I was extremely nervous on the way to work. Once getting to the classroom it hit me! ~Holy Guacamole, what the heck am I doing with these little ones?!! Where are their name tags? Where is my updated class list? Where are my parent packets???...I panicked! It was 7:00am so I still had some time before reporting outside at 7:30 to pick up the babies. I raced around making name tags, found my list, started parent packets, then time flew by and it was time to pick them up. ~Breathe!!! Walking out my door I encountered another surprise...our breakfast coolers!! ~Oh poop!..I have to teach them how to eat breakfast!!! I forgot that part of our day! I wasn't in 1st Grade anymore and had to remember some of these babies come in knowing NOTHING!!! The sweat beads started as we went out to pick up the new babies.

The parents were instructed they were not going to be allowed to walk the babies inside. ~Eek!! I was afraid a riot would start, but it didn't. They're new parents and I think they were all in shock seeing their babies in line on their first day of school. I felt bad for a few minutes for those parents but it worked out extremely well. I had just been talking about this specific topic the night before with a friend. It was like pulling a band aid off...fast and quick and it stings for a few seconds. The parents were asked to step back and kids were asked to turn around, say goodbye and wave...then they followed us in like little ducklings in a row!

I have the cutest kids!!!! 16 total and I hope the size stays low. These babies were carrying backpacks that looked bigger then them, stuffed with boxes of tissue and their school supplies. They were so excited to show me what they had inside their backpack. I didn't have any criers this year!!! ...just wait until tomorrow or Wednesday and that's when it usually starts. ~Crossing my fingers and toes it doesn't.

Breakfast was the hardest thing to teach today! ~haha! Why would the cafeteria pick cereal and milk to start with??? Disaster waiting to happen! A simple French toast or burrito would have been easier to show them how to open them and not make a mess. It took me almost 45 to get through breakfast. ~Sheesh! I went step by step how to open a small personalized thingy of cereal. When I was little, individual cereal was in small cardboard boxes, easy to open!!! Now I swear they make individual cereal bowls child proof! If the munchkins pull the top off too fast cereal will be flung at torpedo speed across the room! In order not to have torpedo's flying across the room or at each other I literally had to show them how to hold it "with two hands" and pull the paper covering off SLOWLY. ~Whew! It worked! We had only a few torpedo's but none at full force, a few duds that fell to the floor. Then it was time for the milk. ~Wait! A large handful didn't know how to open their little cartons of milk! Have you ever opened milk on the wrong side of the little arrow?...not easy! Here we go again....~Hold it with two hands and blah, blah, blah. I was already tired and the day barely started! ~Pour only A LITTLE bit of milk so your bowl doesn't overflow. I waited... walked around and watched, waiting for cereal bowls to overflow...~Whew! None! Yay!! Then I hear...~Teacher, she has milk on her table! I didn't want my head to spin and had to remind myself they're new munchkins. ~What happened munchkin? ~Milk keeps coming out when I try to eat. ~Hmmm.... Picking up the little bowl to clean up under it my hand was soaked with milk running down my arm. ~What the, what the?!! There was a hole in the bucket dear Liza, dear Liza! Yes, a hole on the bottom of her cereal bowl. Thank goodness there was one extra. They did really well mastering Cereal Bowl 101!! ;)

I was sent a joke this morning...~Do you know why dogs run in circles?......~Because squares are too hard! Haha I'm easily humored and love to laugh! So I barked at that one! If you know me, you know my "bark!" I think I was the one running in circles today but the day flew by! They're really, really, cute kiddos and very well behaved! ~Well...two need boot camp drills soon, but they'll be fine! heehee Poor babies were tired from the get go. One asked after breakfast ~Is it time to go home? Haha! The first few weeks are always the hardest, showing them how to stand in line, sit in their chair, sit criss cross on the rug, hold a crayon, draw a circle for their faces, raise their hand, walk in a straight line quietly, use the restroom without playing in the stalls, how to carry their tray at lunch, how to dump their tray at lunch, where to play at lunch....blah, blah, blah...the list goes on!

I was pleasantly surprised that a good handful were able to draw themselves with all appendages in their correct locations! I had a few that were Picasso drawings! haha


All in all, it was a great day! No criers, no boogers, no peers, no poopers...but I just might have jinxed myself! ;)

Tomorrow and the next few weeks will be full of more adventures...stay tuned!
XOXO's

Let Go

Finding Zen...

This year has been a year of finding Zen in munchkinville. The last blog was during a low trying couple of months and finally I've found my place again.

Valentine's Day came with love in the air but it quickly vanished. The munchkins had a great time passing out their Valentine's Day cards and shoving into their little bellies cookies, candies, cupcakes...oh my! I'm lucky no one threw up! heehee


Valentine's Day fell on the 100th Day of School...that being said, it was a pretty wacky day! The snow days pushed the 100th Day to Valentine's Day. It was wacky but fun and it flew by. The munchkins got a kick out of wearing their 100th Day hat, doing 100 exercises in the classroom, eating 100 Cheerios, playing the 100 second quiet game, and YOGA! ~Yes, I said yoga! To get them to do the 100 second quiet game I had them all sit on the rug, since they already were sitting criss cross, I thought ~hmmm...bring some of my yoga class (KungFu Fusion) into the mix and see if it works with these little ones. I briefly explained what yoga was and was surprised to see a few of them already knew what it was and started to pretend to chant ~ohm! haha So of course I went with it and told them..~ Close your eyes, rest your hands on your knees, block everything out (especially the loud class next door..heehe), try to be as still and quiet as can be.... ~Breathe in, breathe out. My oh my did it get silent really quick... they all looked like little monks sitting in the dark. heehee Of course I couldn't stop there...~Who can show me an upside down letter V using their body? Little bodies started popping up from the rug and bending to make the letter V. One did it, then they all wanted space on the rug to show they could do it too. :) I did a few more poses with them and they did great. I think I've created little yoga munchkins because they ask me ~Are we going to do yoga today? heehee


The school Science Fair last week was fun for the munchkins. It was cute to see them get up and explain their projects. Yes, mom and dad usually do everything but most of these munchkins knew their projects and loved doing them. Four munchkins were picked from our class and out of those four, two won 1st place in their respective categories and they were both girls! Yay!!


Talking about yoga...today as a matter of fact was when they asked for it the most. It was TAKS day for the 4th Graders so that meant we were on lock down mode. Meaning the entire school is placed on mute..haha, no lunch recess, we eat with our munchkins, no PE, and group restroom breaks...ugh! We did make it through the day though without anyone digging their way out or escaping through a window...ok, so maybe I tried once! heehee It was a very long day. They kept asking if it was yoga time...haha had to giggle at their request but had to push it off for another day because we were getting our Dr Seuss hats ready for tomorrow. My favorite time of year....Dr Seuss's Birthday and spring is right around the corner!!!

In regards to my munchkin and his mother who have created havoc since day one...well, I made a pack with myself to release it a "let go" (which I learned in my own yoga class recently...thanks V!!). Not to waste anymore energy on it, I will try and sum it all up in 3 sentences or less. haha Munchkin suspended once again, mom created uproar, child lied about another teacher, police involved, worse day ever, things turned out ok, realized I need to end this and protect myself, pulled my trump card out, which in 13 years have never thought I'd use, stood my ground, requested munchkin out...breaks my heart but I've done everything possible and now I'm letting go. For a moment I felt like I failed. Such an awful feeling...failure! I thought I could crack his disruptive behavior, help him learn to make right choices, and feel compassion...but I couldn't. I know it's not all his fault but it's hard to see how it's evolved from what has been learned at home. In my brief moment of feeling as if I failed, I was also reminded of the crazy drama/lies that happened last week = major eye opener! While sitting during yoga I learned to "let go" to all things I cannot fix. Somewhat like the Serenity prayer ~God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. I've accepted and I've found the courage to let go. I do hope and pray he learns to make some better choices and mom learns she's doing more harm than good. Ok, so I went a wee bit longer than 3 sentences...haha

Finding Zen...do we ever find it? Especially as a teacher, as a student, as a person? It's not an easy process but I think slowly we make small steps toward it each time we breathe in and let go of those things we cannot control. I see the light at the end of the tunnel...but I'm not ready to run toward it. haha I'm ready to get back to my munchkins and just breathe.
Stick around for future adventures...
XOXO's

Lost That Loving Feeling

Time Flies...

It's been 3 months since I last blogged... (why does that sound like the intro to confession? haha) Father forgive me! haha (ok I better stop or lightening may strike! heehee)

Within those three months so much has happened in munchkinville and thought many times to jump up and write about it all...but ~I lost that loving feeling...yup the Righteous Brothers have the perfect song for me and my life in munchkinville! It's been my theme song these last few months.



To think, at the beginning of the year, I was jumping for joy to have moved up from Kinder to 1st with my munchkins but right now...no likey!! I didn't want to blog about the problems and bs I was thrown into, but about the fun we were having while learning. I held off from blogging because I didn't feel any fun was happening!

I allowed a new student and his mother to really, really, really get under my skin and really, really, really, didn't like what I was doing anymore. Yikes! I was always taught ~if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all. Another reason not to blog...I didn't have anything nice to say!

A friend posted this video sometime back about a parent conference and it seemed like it was filmed in my classroom! haha



Today as I finished a box of Thin Mints...~thank you Girl Scouts! heehee I decided I needed to get back into the groove of things and blog to reconnect with myself and figure out why I started this career 13 years ago and why I'm still in it. Is this really for me or am I just going through a funk because of the horrible parent and child who's learned behaviors are just as horrible as his mom's?! I know it's not his fault but man oh man! This child has been suspended 2 or 3 times already and he's only in 1st Grade! Mom blames everyone else on this planet. Her son thinks jail is cool because his uncle just got out and she was in too at one point. He's mentioned he started raising chickens and roosters and I thought ~oh how sweet. what a great experience for him! Duh!!! Dumb teacher! That's not why their raising/buying roosters!!! ~We're going to fight them and win money. ~Fight what mijo? ~The gallos (roosters), if they win I win $200. My eyeballs almost popped out of my head!! Ok, against the law right? Didn't know what to do. Mentioned it to someone and they said we don't have an address. It was the only time he mentioned it but if he does again I'm calling I guess the sheriff dept. ~Ma'am whose your informant? ~um a 7 year old! haha I know I shouldn't joke but sheesh! I hate to admit it but I do like the child and he's very smart but makes the worst choices and mom doesn't discipline at all!

The tear jerker for me in December was my moment of breakdown with this child. I pulled him aside and tried having a heart to heart with him. While talking to him about making good choices, behavior, friends, blah, blah, blah. I asked him ~don't you like your friends here in the class? Thinking he'd say yes...my jaw and heart hit the floor when he said ~No! I have other friends! The class had been quiet working and it got even quieter when he said that. I think we were all in shock that he said that. I've never had a student be so cold, no emotions, just out right mean. I didn't know what to say and it took me awhile to say anything. As I looked around the class to find the right things to say, I saw a little girl staring at him with her eyes tearing up. When I asked her what was wrong she said ~I heard that he doesn't like us and that hurts my feelings. Seeing one of my babies want to cry crushed me and yes I'm a cry baby too but I tried real hard not to in front of the munchkins. I almost said ~he hurt my feelings too! She's my itty bitty of the bunch and came over to me for a hug and she started crying. Well, that's when I lost it...yup eyes watered and tears rolled. I tried to laugh it off but it didn't work. The whispering started as they all passed the word that itty bitty and teacher were crying and why. Then it was a ripple effect with questions and comments to this little boy. ~that's not nice to say. ~why would you say that? ~we play with you when you're mean to us. ~we're your friend. Then another little boy started crying but tried hiding it. ~Miss Buddé, Glasses(not real name..haha) is crying! I looked over and he was wiping tears away from under his glasses. ~I just got something in my eye. ~It's ok to cry, don't ever feel that you can't. Why are you crying sweetie? ~Because I thought he was my friend and I play with him and I get in trouble sometimes with him. The munchkins were still quiet and I was afraid it was going to turn into a crying choir but it didn't. I asked this little boy ~how does it feel to see your friends like this? In a cold, noncaring tone ~I don't care, I don't like them. It was the saddest thing to ever see. We had a long but long discussion as a class about our feelings, him, them...you name it. It was Therapy 101. I think it worked ...well, maybe. Fast forward three months, my munchkins still include him if he wants to play with them. He tries to behave and I have to remind myself it's not his fault he behaves the way he does. Did I say I really like him and he's a smart boy but...I allowed this mess to ruin my loving feeling and I'm count down the days for a new year.

Well enough of that...
January was a month of testing these little babies to death but they've grown soooo much! Still a few are struggling but the rest are flying and love seeing them blossom. February started with an adventure of no school for 4 days! Yay! ~yes it was a needed break!! What snow will do to a city...shut it down! haha Our school had water damage and was broken into as well. Such an ugly feeling. Tons of teachers laptops and desktops were stolen. ~A bunch of thugs! Well, it may be students, investigation still going on.

Valentine's Day is Monday so I hope the class gets showered with love in their little hearts and I get that loving feeling back! Bring it on back! Soon! Please!
Stay posted for our next adventure in munchkinville, I know they'll get better!
;)
XOXO's