Crabby Appleton

Most people reading this...(does anyone?)...are probably too young to remember a cartoon program that was in my baby brother's generation, called Tom Terrific. There was a character on the show named Crabby Appleton. I have felt like that character all day today!

The day didn't start well. I have taken on the job of making the children's lunches. (I HATE making lunches!) Last fall, Meg decided that the children should make their own, but that didn't last long because they have to be made the night before if the kids do them...and with supper, homework, stories, baths, and frantic bedtimes for tired mommies and grandmothers, there just isn't enough time or patience to have them do lunches, too. Okay...so...somehow, Robin's lunchbox didn't make it home from Grandma Judy's yesterday. We have a spare, but her thermos and the little frozen gel things that keep food cool were in the missing box. I was trying to put together lunches that would work without the "necessaries". Blah! Robin, who had made her way to my bed during the night again, didn't wake up in the best mood. Just getting everyone up, dressed, lunched, and out the door was a hassle.

At school, I was put in charge of collecting field trip permission slips and money. The deadline was yesterday. As of today, we were still almost 50% shy of having them all in. I had to talk to each student independently to figure out why they hadn't turned anything in. A couple truly didn't want to go. Several really don't have the funds ($10). Most of the rest simply had lost their permission slips and hadn't bothered to ask for another. Argh! The absolutely amazing part to me is that the one youngster who has complained TWICE that they didn't get a field trip last year because the 7th grade teachers had given up on their behavior is one of the latter! Then there was the youngster who vented that if we wanted them to go on this field trip so bad, the school district should pay the fees...and they should AT LEAST get lunch out of the deal. (I told him that I didn't think he should go because his attitude wasn't great. We'll see if he brings his stuff tomorrow!)

Behavior in school, for the uninitiated, is always the worst in February. That is proving true this year, as usual. By the time I get to 7th period, I am ready to strangle several kids! Had one approach me at the beginning of class today, during our ten minutes of silent reading, to ask, "Can I go to the library to work on my social studies project?" Excuse me??? For the last two days, we have had some charming young lady cast her used sanitary product against a wall in the girls' restroom near my classroom. Lovely...

And then I get to come home to the chaos here. Robin's mood wasn't great. Ryan declared that it isn't fun "here". (That bit the big one. We run full tilt to try to keep things somewhat fun, even during routine times.) I couldn't find the vocab list that Robin will be tested on this week. Meg finally found it, but because Robin was tired and not attending to it, Meg heard the impatience in my voice from her bedroom and chastised me. And so it goes...

Yes, I am aware that in a few months, 50% of the stress will be gone. I will no longer have to go to school every day, but I will take on other responsibilities...and will have to be careful that I don't take on too much. Right now, Meg and I are BOTH overwhelmed...and it's not pretty!

Bah! Humbug!