MadameBastet-firing-neurons

MadameBastet-firing-neurons
Summer is coming
not on little cat feet though!
Almighty Ra has shown us a glimpse
of what is to come with a blast of furnace heat;
and a bright and shiny day.
The skies are cornflower blue
and the mountains are losing much of the spring greenery
the rains from past years brought.

The kids know it too; only 12 school days left
When told this, 16 eardrum-piercing screams -
didn't you hear them? I thought the entire
coastal valley would've rejoiced with their excitement.
Ah, summer! Oh, parents.
Good luck!

Today was Dylan's birthday.
He wore the king's crown and announced
"Six! Six! Finally I am six!"
as if he'd waited decades for it to happen.
In his world, it no doubt seemed like decades.
He was so excited. Six! If six is this good, then surely seven will be better!
And eight and nine and ten so fine...
at what age do we start to NOT rejoice the day of our birth?
When do we STOP looking forward to it, and START dreading it?
The proverbial 30?

I think for me, it was 25. After that baby,
well you know, it was all down hill. Never mind
getting my health screwed over at 26 -
it just seemed for me, the magic marker that I was leaving true youth
behind.
Suddenly the strangest thing started to happen.
People all around me were getting younger and younger.
Thirty wasn't too bad. And now I wait for 40 - with glee!
Why not? Why keep dreading the celebration that you are still here,
still breathing, still privy to all the madness, the good, the bad, the ugly,
even the desperate hours when all seems lost.
I am tired of dreading.

I am utterly positive that some strange creature
gathered all my little chicklets together before class this morning
and gave them immense amounts of sugar.
They all seemed like they were high as kites; bouncing off the walls
unable to sit, be quiet or even impersonate a well-behaved child.

They took their first and last writing test for their report card.
Griffin misunderstood and only wrote one sentence. He cried.
Jamie started to give him grief and I sent him away to let Griffin know
it was OK; he could have another chance. His little tears crush my heart.
I know he is having a hard time with the divorce and I wonder,
what will this do to his life? You can see so clearly how it affects a child so deeply, so utterly profoundly at this age.

We played with coins today; the goal was to teach the value of money.
Ha! Children, we know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Please go home and look up Oscar Wilde.
They took magnifying glasses to look at all the States' quarters.
Glee!
Dylan said, "Metal on metal makes me nervous. So does metal on concrete."
I guess the sound of change in his pocket makes him nervous. Haha! For some reason, the way he said it, cracked me up.
Someday he'll come to love that ka-ching noise!

I asked, "Who is on the quarter?"
George Washington they all cried!
And "Why is George Washington important to us?"
Because he flew jet planes really fast, said Tyler.

I wonder what program Tyler was watching in his head.

Who is on the nickel I asked?
No one knew this.
I had two students answer,
"George Bush?"

I laughed, and said "No, Thomas Jefferson."

Inside I screamed and thought, "DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN NO! THANK GO NO!"

So Dylan blew out his candle as birthday king, Natalie cut her finger, Dominique went home with an earache, Griffin cried, Tanner and Jamie got in a shoving match over a chair, Brooke was Superstar, and two students thought the Devil was on our money.

All in all, a pretty normal day.