12yo. The kids had good first weeks back. The 12yo’s frenemy (he’d maybe actually his frenemesis?!) is not only going to his school now (he was at a different school for 6th grade), but is in EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. of his classes. He rarely ends up with one of his many friends in a class so to have this kid in every class is insane. So far the 12yo reports that “he’s being chill,” and I hope it stays that way. Baseball already started, so he’s been busy.
16yo. The 16yo didn’t get either of the electives she requested, she also didn’t get Marine Biology. But! She did get Writing for Publication and she’s really enjoying Bio Tech (which sounds like a really interesting class with a lot of awesome opportunities). She’s taking two AP classes this year – US History and Spanish Language. It’s definitely going to be a lot!
Sick. I woke up with a gnarly cold last Saturday. I felt like I had strep and a sinus infection and maybe the flu. It was the most sick I’ve been in ages. Luckily I suspected I might be coming down with something late Friday night so I took a bunch of Airborne and Umcka and that helped shorten the duration of the worst days. I still haven’t felt 100% this week and some sinus discomfort (and debris) lingers a week later. I’m just glad I didn’t give it to my kids for their first week) (though a friend I saw earlier on Friday did get sick so maybe I gave it to her?!)
Classes. We started on Wednesday, so I had 3 days with my new classes this week. I have A LOT of students. Every class is full. That means I have 128 6th graders in four classes that I see on an A/B schedule during two periods. I have 96 students in my three 7/8th grade classes. It’s a lot. I teach 0* period, then have a prep, then I teach the two 6th grade classes; then another prep, and then I end the day with a 1A and 1B class. Both my afternoon classes are going to require a lot of behavior management. It’s going to be a long year.
Habits. I have four habits I’m tracking at the start of this school year:
- Check my planner every evening
- Categorize spending on Simplifi every day
- Check in with the kids about their chores in the afternoons
- Night prep, which includes LAYING OUT my outfit for the next morning (not just knowing what I’m going to wear)
The night prep one is probably the most important, because I’m trying to get to 0* period on time reliably without waking up early. The only way to do that is make sure I have my keys in the car, my clothes out and ready to go. Already the second night I was reminded that the clothes have to be out because a shirt I wanted to wear needed to be sprayed and put in the dryer, which was no big deal at night but might have made me late in the morning. Basically I cannot be looking for anything, or making any decisions, before I leave for work.
Vet visit. Serval had to go to the vet on Friday after a week of not eating much (and eventually nothing at all). I won’t get into the details, but lets just say that 5 enemas (and $1500 later) he was feeling much better. I had to give him a bath on Saturday morning – he smelled SO BAD – and he did not love that. We figured out he will eat all his medicine with a pack of puree treat, which is so much better than trying to syringe it into his mouth. He still isn’t having regular BM’s, despite the medicine. I really hope this is a one and done vet visit because I can not shell out that kind of money again!
Weekend. I was at the dojo for four hours on Saturday – the first time I taught my class, and then went to all my own classes, in over a month. My long absence, plus getting over that cold, made sparring especially really hard. Saturday night the 12yo was at a sleep over and the 16yo was hosting a sleep over and the husband and I went to see Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. The movie was great – the husband LOVED it – and it was very nice for he and I to hang out. Sunday we very chill – some chores, some walks, some relaxing, some prep for the coming week. This is my first full week with students and I want to start strong. Bring on the 26-27 school year!
