When I first switched to eSchool, I was going over the pros and cons with myself, trying to feel a bit more excited about the big change.
Here are some pros:
- No more tying wet shoelaces-and not knowing why they were wet (shudder)
- No more recess duty when it is so so so so cold
- No more dealing with SNOW PANTS and PE SHOES (One year, I had a five minute transition from recess to PE. Getting 25 first graders out of snow pants/boots and into PE shoes in five minutes should be an Olympic sport)
- No more tire swing drama (GLORY!)
- No more picking up chewed up pencils off the ground
- NO MORE HAVING TO DRESS UP FOR HALLOWEEN
I am basically a Halloween grinch. I don’t know why. Actually, I do know why.
This is why:
- I don’t care.
- For years, I had four kids and a small Halloween budget. Oh! And I am not creative, like, I don’t know how to sew and all that jazz. I hated trying to come up with costumes for the Fab Four without breaking the bank. FOR YEARS.
- I dislike dressing up. Mostly because, and I cannot stress this enough, I don’t care.
So, the no more having a class full of kids and trying to contain their sheer and utter joy on Halloween, whilst being forced to wear a costume myself was a HUGE perk for switching to eSchool.
Imagine my surprise when I receive this email from my admin
“Good news! We have arranged for a round of material pick up for Oct 30! The kids can come in their costumes. Please wear a costume yourself!”
So, as soon as I log off, I shall be dressing up as a NINJA.
But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Me to Teaching Team:
Ok, I am pretty easy going and don’t really care what we wear for Halloween. However:
- I won’t wear anything on my head. Not even a headband. HATE IT.
- I am so done with tutus. I don’t want to wear a tutu and I don’t want to make a tutu.
- I am not creative.
- I don’t sew
As I am getting older, I feel like I have no problem telling people how I feel. Thoughts?
David, on the other hand, has MUCHO TROUBLE saying how he feels.
David has two moods:
- Fine.
- Not fine.
David is “fine” most of the time. Like, usually, all the time.
David’s second mood of “not fine” is the mood he chooses for all other emotions that don’t fall under fine. Emotions such as, but not limited to:
- Irritated
- Tired
- Injured
- Annoyed
- Sick
- Mad
- Stressed
- Hungry
- Frustrated
- Bored
All of the above emotions look the same on David: Not Fine.
Now, I have been married to him for 20 years. I have been made aware of the two moods.
Fine.
Not fine.
When David is “not fine,” he likes to make me play a fun little game called:
“What in the world is David NOT FINE about?”
I notice my husband’s NOT FINE mood.
Me: Is something wrong?
David: Nope.
And we get to do that for a couple of days. Oh, yes. I said days.
Then I have to play guess and check.
Sometimes he is super sick! Like the time he had shingles and I had to tell his mom on him that he was sick and I needed help forcing him to go to the doctor.
Sometimes he falls off of a ladder at work and breaks ribs and neglects to tell me.
Sometimes he gets in a minor vehicle accident, and I only find out about it when I see a dent on the aforementioned vehicle.
Sometimes he feels stress from work.
Sometimes he feels stress from cows.
Sometimes he gets tired of repairing every single dang thing on our property every day. Like the bobcat. And the four wheeler.
Sometimes, and please sit down for this, I do things that bug him.
I KNOW! Hard to believe. I am a delight.
Me to David: I know this is so hard for you, but just TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON.
David: I’m fine.
We are two very different people, as I prefer to announce all my feelings to everyone, including the animals.
I am fussy.
I am going to bed.
I am annoyed.
I don’t want to dress up for Halloween.
I am hungry.
I don’t want to eat that.
I am done parenting children tonight.
See? It’s not hard, David. Just say how you feel.
***
Alright. I need to go be a ninja. In case I haven’t made my feelings clear on the matter:
I do NOT want to be a ninja.
But I will do it. FOR THE CHILDREN.
One of my precious kiddos has been SO excited for Halloween. She has talked about it in class for weeks.
She is sick and in quarantine and cannot come to pick up materials today.
Stupid covid.
My assistant principal is going to go in costume to her house and drop off her materials and wave to her from the sidewalk. Precious student is hopeful someone will take a picture of her and send it to me.
I really love my firsties. And isn’t my assistant principal simply the nicest?
Alright. Enjoy your day.
You and I are Halloween kindred spirits : )
I don’t care for Halloween either for basically the same reasons you don’t. I am not creative and I can’t be bothered. I do appreciate a great costume though if someone else is wearing it.
Take a large white trash bag and go as a marshmallow, stuff it with crinkled up newspaper to make it bulky. Or a black one and go as a bag of trash. 🙂 You are a good sport.
I couldn’t care less about Halloween either!! At first I was all, “Oh, it’s an evil day!”, but then I realized that wasn’t it. It’s just that I can’t care about costumes or candy. I loathe candy. And costumes are so stressful.
What about the promotion for David? Any decisions there?
He isn’t interested! We would have to sell everything and move. He isn’t interested, but I told him we could do it if we wanted to. But I think he wants to stay put.
I think you are onto something. My husband does the same thing. I can tell he is not fine and it could be any number of those things. And he acts irritated with me but I have to try to figure out what is bothering him. You could write a book and call it Fine. Not fine. And it could explain how to figure out what is wrong.
As I get older I have no problem with telling people how I feel. I also tend to ignore stuff too hard to figure out. Someone else will just have to deal with it. Especially if it’s my husband and he isn’t feeling like talking to me. I also find I talk less because I know that no one is really interested in what I have to share. Which is ok because then I have less to worry about!