Another 40 minutes...

in the life of a supply teacher, but what transpired was at THE END of the day!

What is MORE STRESSFUL than supervising school children eating in a cafeteria? Making sure that they get home safely at the end of the day!  When you are dealing with children in Kindergarten to Grade 2, who leave earlier than their older classmates, that dismissal time can be pure BEDLAM!!!

Witness an absolutely adorable Grade Three class in a French school, that I taught this week. The students all left at the 1:45, some on buses, some being picked up and some going to various daycare establishments.  Five minutes later you-know-what HIT THE FAN!

Case in point #1- Nicholas. He had gone home on the bus, but his aunt was waiting to pick him up. Students can only be picked up once the buses have left. Is that such a good idea?  What if the child isn't SUPPOSED to be on that bus? Too late!!! Such was the case with Nick. There had been no note in his agenda. I had checked. The aunt (who was a little put out!) said the mother had called in the change. I checked with the secretary. NO, she never got a call. Turns out the mother LEFT a voice mail message.  Now, for all parents out there who think THAT is a good idea, think again. School secretaries are the BUSIEST people, a-l-l  d-a-y  LONG!  They are constantly being interrupted by administrators, staff, students, parents, phones ringing, deliveries... YOU NAME IT. They don't have t-i-m-e to check messages. We are talking your MOST precious beings here, your children. Don't trust their safe delivery home to a MACHINE!

The bus driver saw there was no one home, so he dropped the child off at his second option, daycare. This we all found out (the VP, myself, the secretary) more than half an hour later, as we all made numerous phone calls trying to contact the aunt again, the bus driver, and the mother at work. Total chaos!  I tracked the mother down a second time, to tell her where Nick ended up. I was trying to nicely explain to her to NEVER leave a message, when another teacher popped her head in. Where was another student of mine?  She was supposed to be in her dismissal group.  Quick goodbyes to mother number one.

That brings me to Case #2 - Mylène. Well, Mylène was supposed to be tutored after school, but her tutor canceled. I made Mylène aware of that, but never thought anything further.  Mea culpa! Mylène doesn't TAKE THE BUS; she is picked up. Well, her parents won't pick her up until later when she is being tutored. So, I brought her back to class, and called the mother, who was very sweet about the fact that I had goofed.  She quickly came to get her daughter. However, had Mylène been tutored, then she would have been in the dismissal group of the teacher who had JUST come to my door looking for her an hour later.  GOOD to have these checks and balances in place, I know, but by this time, I am getting frazzled.

Case #3 - Annabelle.  Backtrack forty minutes and add an intercom call from the secretary, asking on behalf of the school daycare staff, who want to know where Annabelle is. I try to place the child in my mind, quickly, so I can give the right answer.  It was, after all, only my FIRST day with these children. Turns out she had gone home sick at 1:00, which I told them. They wanted the details, which I didn't know, because the VP had handled it. I was too busy trying to teach the other 16 in the class. Gee whiz! :)

At one point, when I was running around tracking down these children,  I tried to take a child back to class, thinking it was Mylène. The supervising dismissal teacher says, "No, that one is mine."  They all look the same to me, those sweet faces, when they have tuques on!! Turns out it was hers, all right - HER CHILD. I had to laugh when I found that out later.

So more than an hour after dismissal, I finally know that ALL 17 of those precious children are safe and sound, where they are supposed to be!  By now, I am a nervous wreck!  WHY I don't have high blood pressure baffles me...

Perles de la petite école cette semaine ...

1ère année

Comment est-ce qu'il s'appelle ton "chum"?   Moi - Je n'ai pas de chum.

Une petite rentre dans la classe , et en me voyant, est toute démontée. "Mais ou est Madame Marie-Eve?" Moi - "Elle est absente." "Mais elle nous l'a pas dit!", elle replique, vivement indignée.  Moi- C'est peut-être parce qu'elle ne le savait pas. Elle est possiblement malade. La petite, avec un peu de chagrin, répond "OUPS!"

Dans le couloir - "Non, je n'ai pas la picotte. Ma mère m'a amené chez le docteur et j'ai juste un "RASH!"

Au gymnase, ou on joue un jeu, une grande fille de 4e année m'arrive, toute mécontente. Elle m' annonce, après avoir vu une autre élève me parler- " Elle est en train de me FRIGGIN' mettre dans le trouble!"

Elections matter in elementary school too, so let's get right to the point here!!!

IT IS ALL ABOUT TIMING!

Life is ALL ABOUT TIMING!  There is GOOD timing and BAD timing.  I have had my share of mostly the LATTER, this past week. Reflecting upon the subject though, made me realize how crucial timing can be.  In some cases, it is a matter of life and death. Thankfully, in my experience, t-i-m-i-n-g, good or bad, is either a convenience, or an inconvenience, (also known as a total PITA= pain in the ass!), but not a serious matter.

I needed to go shop in the Miramichi, an hour's drive away. I had received a $50 gift certificate for Winners, six months ago, so I made plans to go last Wednesday.  I always plan everything to the "nth" degree.  I figured since one School District had a PD day, my chances of getting a call for supply with the other district, were slim. Well, I was called of course, by the robot, which in itself does NOT guarantee I would have been assigned the posting, but I will never know. I just ignored the call. I am getting ready to hit the road by 9:00 am, when Baby Bro sends me a text, advising me of the closure of the road I had to take, until noon. Well, I went anyway, hoping the road would be reopened upon my return, around 4:00 pm. Well, of course it WAS NOT. So my sis-in-law and I ended up taking a two hour scenic route detour, to get to the Miramichi, and then driving two and half hours back on the same detour. On a normal day, this would have been a 50 minutes drive EACH WAY.  We only spent a total of FOUR hours shopping.  Does that make sense? Did I mention that it was pouring rain, on our return, very dark, and I missed an exit? B-A-D timing, overall. 

I always bring my lunch to school. On Thursday I brought leftovers of fish, rice and veggies.  I thought "Don't eat this in the staff room. Some people won't like the smell. Bring it back to the classroom."  That is what I did. Then I decided to go to the cafeteria to check the garbage bins for Lunchmate points. I knows that sounds bad, but it is just a matter of gathering points for free stuff, and anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE free stuff. Free stuff, which I give to kids. S-O I was leaning over the garbage bin, looking for paper wrappers, when the cafeteria supervisor walks up, and says, "OMG, that bin stinks of fish!" She grimaces and makes a dismissing gesture with her hand. Of course, I burst out laughing, and said, "It is NOT the garbage can. It's ME!"  You see, I have very little sense of smell.  My world is pretty odourless, so I hadn't noticed that I smelled fishy, literally!!   She turned red as a beet.  I didn't, because I am shameless. So, THAT was a matter of pretty bad timing... ON HER PART. LOL   I was concerned though, that the smell in the classroom would be equally as strong, so I got one of my little fellows (this was a Grade Two class) to step into the classroom and tell me what he smelled.  He immediately replied "LOBSTER!"  I wish!!!! The smell had dissipated by the time the children returned to class after lunch recess. 

Speaking of smell, when Vimy and I returned from a long walk Tuesday night, it was dark. I let Vimy off his leash in the driveway, and he IMMEDIATELY took off running and barking, into the backyard.  What was the attraction? A SKUNK!!!!  Said skunk did what all skunks do, when threatened. He/SHE SPRAYED!  That is BAD TIMING! Really bad timing!!!  However, the skunk missed Vimy, thanks be to all the Gods above. I washed his face, neck and chest with baking soda and water.  I had a friend coming to stay overnight, who arrived shortly after this encounter.  She assured me that the smell in the house was minimal, but very strong outside.  I dodged a bullet there!!!  So, some GOOD TIMING!

Friday night, I was going out to eat, which is a small luxury for me. There is a sushi restaurant that I just love. I hadn't seen an old friend in over four months, so we made arrangements to meet for dinner at this place , since it is halfway for both of us, and she has never been there.   Of course, when we got there, IT WAS CLOSED.  Just for that ONE day mind you. Just that ONE day that I wanted to go there. Bad timing once again... and a fitting ending to my week, no?  However, in the grand scheme of things, although my timing was OFF all week, it was all minor!  For that, I am truly grateful.  

Should FORGETFULLNESS be a four letter word?

That is ONE L-O-N-G word for something so frustratingly stupid!  As we age, we are constantly reminded that we are getting forgetful, yet I honestly think it isn't so much a question of age, as a question of being just too busy and too much multi-tasking.  Don't you agree?

Recently, I was wondering why I was down to my last two pair of underwear, when I had just done my laundry.  Then it dawned on me that my bras and panties had been OUTSIDE on the clothesline for FIVE days! Not really a clothesline, mind you, just a long bungee cord stretched underneath the posts of my deck. Therefore, not really visible either. Still.... it could have been WORSE. I could have gone out and bought M! O! R! E! underwear, NOT EVEN REMEMBERING that all mine were STILL hanging on the clothesline.

The next day,  I got my winter tires ready to be installed, by hauling them out of the shed, putting them under my deck overnight, then into my car the next day.  Do you think I was able to tell my mechanic, when I booked an appointment, whether the TIRES were on rims or NOT?  Of course not!!! I had to go double check and then call him back.  Double duh!!!

In the same week, I could NOT find my beautiful, blue handmade mittens at school, when it came time to leave. I spent fifteen minutes checking everywhere, every classroom, lost and found, only to find them, at the height of my exasperation, both tucked into the sleeve of my coat! I NEVER do that anymore, because the last beautiful pair of HANDMADE black mittens I lost at a school, had been tucked into my coat sleeve as well. Why oh why I tucked them back in a sleeve again, is beyond me!!

So... I am old! Old people are forgetful, right?  If so, how do you explain that when I was in my early forties, I came home from grocery shopping, and could NOT, for the life of me, find the gallon of milk I had bought. Twenty four hours later, my husband found it in a bottom kitchen CUPBOARD!

One Easter I hid the children's candy so well, that I couldn't find it when it came time to get the Easter Treasure Hunt ready.  I had to go out and buy some more.  My daughter found the candy six months later, tucked behind the third drawer of the file cabinet.  Same with Christmas gifts. One Christmas Eve my then husband and I, prepared the gifts, after the kids had gone to bed. I am looking at the tree and thinking, "Gee, I was sure I (I mean SANTA) had bought more gifts than that." Then it dawned on me that I had hidden some.  Now I just had to remember WHERE!  This happened when I was in MY THIRTIES!

I have just totally CONVINCED myself that I am N-OT forgetfull because I am aging, but rather that I am forgetful because I was ALWAYS that way.

On a final note, I would truly love to FORGET that this past week, our neighbours to the south of us, elected Donald Trump. Enough said!

Too much ANTICIPATION is NOT a good thing!

When you have had a L-O-N-G and busy week, don't you look forward to getting home Friday night and just crashing and burning?  I do!  You can binge on Netflix movies, or read an entire book while drinking an entire bottle of wine or ... Oops.... didn't mean to get carried away in my own fantasies,there.

Anyway, such was my case  recently. I taught all day, picked up Vimy at doggie daycare, ran a few errands, went to a HOT FUSION yoga class, and finally dashed in the door at 6:30 pm.  I immediately turned on the oven, to preheat it, for my fancy '"Nachos and Cheese" supper, made sure I had a cold beer in the fridge, and ran upstairs to run water for a hot bath. You REALLY, REALLY stink when you come out of a HOT yoga class.

That all done, I went over to the TV, and turned it on.  It came on, but then NO SIGNAL, when I pressed GUIDE.  I COULDN'T believe it!  I was madder than a wet hen, as I fiddled and fiddled to make the TV come on. I rebooted it, plus checked all the cords and wiring. I did EVERYTHING!  No luck WHATSOEVER!  Thank goodness I have Rogers on speed dial.   So I called them... had to leave my number, so I ended up in a callback queue. While I waited for the call back, I turned OFF the faucet for the bath water, but COMPLETELY forgot about the oven.  After 45 minutes on the phone with a Rogers techie, I was no closer to resolving my problem. At this point I would have been saying "I HATE ROGERS! I HATE ROGERS!"   What was the point though? It didn't change anything.  However, I did have an appointment for a technician to show up at my door Sunday morning between 8 and 11 am.

ALL OF WHICH STILL DID NOT SOLVE MY PROBLEM.  I had been all psyched up to watch the last two hours, of the sixth season, and the GRAND FINALE of DOWNTON ABBEY.  I had been waiting TWO years for this.  I had to return the DVDs to the library in a few days. No question of renewing.

It was 8:30 before I sat down in a rocking chair, with a mostly cold nachos platter, having taken a quick,lukewarm bath and having managed to hook up my laptop to a 15" monitor, so that I FINALLY could watch what I had intended to watch two hours earlier.  ARRGH!!!

NOT the most comfortable position, NOR the best viewing (I kept having to tilt the darn monitor), but hey.... mission accomplished.

I still love to hate Rogers, but I love to hate LADY MARY a lot more. Isn't she a total, total witch?
I am going to go into DOWNTON ABBEY withdrawal.  Sigh!

PS:  The techie fixed my problem in two minutes. Their HDMI cord wasn't plugged in from the TV into the Nexbox. I don't know how that happened!  The lady on the phone Friday night, told me I only needed two cords to be coming out of the Nexbox, NOT three.  I HATE ROGERS!