Parent Conferences

My place of employment has the dubious distinction of being the only high school in the area that holds parent conferences. Last night, all the teachers gathered in the commons, set out our gradesheets and waited for parents to show up. Usually the conversation follows this script:

Parent: I'm Eduardo's mom.
Teacher: Hello! Eduardo is such a pleasure to have in class. He still has an A, and is across the board delightful. Everyone loves him and occasionally we spend all class admiring his unique combination of intelligence, charm, popularity, and athleticism. We have decided it is all due to the influence of his mother. Congratulations. I have a plaque with flowers right here for you: Our Madre Número Uno.
Parent: I thought as much.

But sometimes, mom is feeling unbalanced. The kid is failing or (gasp!) has an A-. It's obviously THE TEACHER'S fault. Mom comes in and publicly humiliates new teachers in front of the other parents and her colleagues and students. The teacher then holds back tears as she searches in vain for the restroom (which she cannot find because she is new to the school), and finally hides under a table in the art room to cry quietly.

Not like that happened to me last year or anything.

It wasn't nearly as bad this year. My favorite mom came - she always makes me feel special. The grumpy parents were (rightfully) grumpy at their kids for skipping, not turning junk in, failing tests, etc.

But still. 12 hour days in which the last three are parents... yikes.

Catching up: Marriage

Being married is way fun. I am feeling particularly gushy this evening because David spent the last 30 hours or so spoiling me like crazy. I had a 4 day weekend (so I can praise the Lord with Becky), so David told me not to make plans between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening.

We started out at the Melting Pot eating the most delightful fondue. Bread chunks dipped in boston lager and melty cheddar cheese, anyone? Then amazing Simmer-Your-Own-Cajun-Rubbed-Meat, followed by a little piece of every dessert to be dipped in a chocolate peanut butter fondue. How can you top that?

By taking me to a romantic hotel so we can share a bottle of wine and make googly eyes at each other.

By letting me wander around Aunties and Pier 1 and eating at Clinkerdaggers with me. Then coming home and reading on the couch next to each other.

Sigh of contentment.

We have some difficult moments (usually me being insecure about __________ and freaking out. David then feels like he's done something wrong, and I feel guilty about feeling insecure. It's silly, and it really sucks in the midst of it, but lucky for me I married a good communicator.)

Mostly it's just blissful, and I am filled with all sorts of smooshy feelings in my insides that make me grin really big and trip over things.

Catching up: School

School seems like the easiest thing to write about.

Usually I feel like The Mary Show does a reasonably good job at a) Keeping Children Awake, and b) Learning Them Up. Then, when I least suspect it, a kid falls asleep in class.



Luckily for my ego, a kind suck up or two will exclaim, "How could anyone fall asleep in this class? It's my favorite." This particular soul didn't wake up until well into the following period. That's right. I let him sleep. I figured being embarrassed and late to his next class might keep him from doing it again. It beats getting mad, anyway.

Sixth period is still my Doom and Destruction. You may see me in the news as the teacher who threw six students out the window in one period. And the rest of the class applauded her.

David and I went to the Drama Club's Improv Night this week. Some of those kids are stinking funny. There were some dumb moments, but mostly it was a kick.

The quarter ended yesterday (= grades due soon). I'm currently deciding which assignments to grade and which to just slap a sticker on and hand back.

Today was Gina's celebration of life service. It was touching and heartfelt and sad.


photo courtesy of Ben Blood

He says it better than I.