Back to School

It occurred to me this afternoon that tomorrow is the first day I haven't gone "back to school" since I started kindergarten in 1979. Wow! I wonder how I'll feel. I think I'll miss all the kids with their hugs and high fives and summer stories. I won't miss the 25 mothers outside my door waiting one by one to tell me about their children's "special needs" as if I'll remember each of them. I hope I don't do this to Jack's teachers. I promise to try not to do this when he begins school.

I'm enjoying my job with WGU. I'm still in education. I make more mulah than I did with National Boards stipends in the classroom. I get to have lunch with girlfriends, work from any city with internet access and telephones, talk to students all over the country, and roll out of bed and stumble into my office without brushing my hair. I don't have to defrost my windows in the winter or do bus duty. How cool is that? I also don't collect hugs from ten-year-olds. I miss that the most. Leaving the classroom made me realize that I truly am a teacher at heart. I hope to return someday, but if I were teaching right now, I'd miss my precious Jack even more than someone else's ten-year-old. What a blessing. With WGU I'll be able to walk Jack to his own classroom and grit my teeth when I want to share his "special needs" with his very capable teacher.

***As a side note for all you teachers out there...I actually received an email from a student's mother the other day trying to excuse her daughter's unprofessional disposition. Yes, the student is already married and has a child. I wonder if she also explained her child's "special needs" in 4th grade. Probably...I'm sure that's why she finds it necessary to do it today. In case you're wondering...NO, I didn't reply. GET A LIFE!