Broken Promise

With the school days being long, and Caroline being under the watchful eye of someone other than her awesome parents for 9 out of her 14 waking hours, Chris and I made a promise not to do any kind of work while she is awake. I get 3 1/2 to 4 hours with her in the afternoon and Chris only gets about 2, so I think its a good promise. HOWEVER, it IS a three day weekend, so I'm updating my blog before Chris gets home and we have super family time.

I am loving OPHS (the P stands for parish, but no one ever says it...). I have school spirit ("yes I do, I have school spirit, how 'bout you?") and, like my students, I hate WMHS now. Of course, I know that's terrible. I even made Caroline a little shirt to wear to home games. The back has all my students' jersey numbers.

I just thought she looked cute coloring like a big girl. Later she ate the crayon.

She wears her headband as a necklace.

Stategic bubble cover-up.

Finishing the morning in mama and daddy's bed.

Teaching high school has reminded me of all the bad stuff teenagers have to deal with, and those things are not stupid. They are very important to them, and they should be to their parents, too. Girls come in crying, and you think they're having boy drama. But its not "just boy drama," it affects their self image, which in turn affects the decisions they make. I have students, boys and girls, who work from 4 to 10 every night. When are they supposed to do homework or study? I have a student who stays up til three a.m. watching his baby cousin. I overhear students talking about drugs and alcohol and certain relationships with "advantages." I have a student who is scared of his older brother, for legitimate reasons. That same kid's dad is never around and his mom's in rehab...Anyway, I could go on, but please never dismiss your kids' problems because "they're kids and they have no idea what stress is." They do, its just a different kind. But sometimes its not even different. Let me step off my soapbox.