School wasn't as bad as I thought it would be today. I was anticipating pandemonium because of Halloween, and the fact that the Big Cheese thought a Halloween parade would be a good idea. But, the kids were actually pretty well behaved. It probably had a lot to do with my threatening death! Plus, I didn't allow them to eat any candy in school, so that cut out some of the craziness. I made them little treat bags, but they contained no candy. They each got a plastic Halloween cup, a pencil, a couple of rings and a bottle of bubbles. I asked the parents to send non-candy treats, but it must not have gone over well. I only had 3 parents even send treats, and they were all candy. Well, one grandma brought a bag of apples, but it only had about 10 apples in it for my class of 25. We decided to keep those for a snack another day. I think I'll bring my apple cutter tomorrow, and we can share them.
We had our usual Wednesday morning staff meeting, but man, did the Big Cheese dance to avoid talking about the bullshit he pulled this week! I've NEVER seen him stick to his agenda the way he did today! It was clear that he had no intention of using this meeting to let us bitch at him. But, that's OK, because Friday is a teachers institute day, meaning no kids, so we'll have ALL DAY to voice our opinions. Although, I asked Dori this morning (yay, she's back!) if she thought we could find some sort of professional development we could attend instead of coming to school. And, sadly for me, the Big Cheese finally remembered to ask me to do a presentation regarding that meeting I went to for him a couple of weeks ago. Crap! I was able to sit and talk with the union rep from our school today during my prep, and it was nice to really vent about all the crap we've been putting up with lately. She said she was going to put a call into the union and start the process for filing a formal grievance. I'll keep you posted.
On a high note, I was putting together the November calendar for my newsletter, and I was thrilled to see how much time the kids have off this month! They are off Friday, 11/2, for a teachers institute day, then next Thursday, 11/8, for report card pickup day, then Monday, 11/12, for Veterans' Day (and so are we, thank God!) then finally, Thur. & Fri. 11/22 & 23, for Thanksgiving. We don't have one full week in the month of November. But wait, there's more!!
After having a 3-day weekend for Veterans' Day, we come back Tuesday, Wednesday I'm out for a professional development training for math, then Thursday we have a field trip, then Friday I'm out again for a professional development for science. I basically only have to work one day that week. Hallelujah! Lord knows I could use the break!
Speaking of my newsletter, the Big Cheese actually made mention of it in our meeting today. It was almost like he was paying me a compliment. He was suggesting that all the teachers do something like my newsletter in order to improve communication with the parents. Hmmm, what do you know? I might actually know what the hell I'm doing!!!
OK, no more bitching about the BC!! Most of my kids did not have costumes on, but the couple that did looked cute. Of course, I took pictures, and I wish I could share them with you. One of my babies, though, had a major meltdown because he didn't have a costume on today. He ended up under the table sobbing, and refused to come out at first. I finally got him out and found out that he was upset that he didn't have a costume. After talking for a while as a whole group, we decided that we could try and make costumes for the boys and girls that didn't have one. P.M. absolutely adores Thomas the Tank Engine, so I decided I would do my best to draw Thomas on a sheet of construction paper. Then I punched a couple of holes at the top, and used some ribbon to tie it around his neck. I gotta say, it turned out pretty darn cute. Naturally, I had to keep making costumes for every other baby that didn't have a costume. Luckily, they didn't ask for much. Most of them wanted a Superman, or Supergirl, "S" emblem, which was easy. I drew every one's costumes, and they colored them, so some of them were pretty funny looking. I made a couple of ballerina bodies for some of the girls, and one of the boys wanted to be Bob the Builder. I also had one Batman, and a couple of Cat Women.
I, also, dressed up today, much to the delight of my babies. I wore a big witch's hat with long, scraggly gray hair attached to it. I had a black cape, a witch's broom, and witch shoes that were orange & black striped with curly toes. I wore black pants and an orange T-shirt that said "This is my costume." The kids were cracking up all day. I told them I rode my broom to school this morning. Naturally, they believed me :)
As I sit here typing, I'm amazed that I have yet to have one trick-or-treater ring my doorbell. I hope that doesn't mean I'll have kids coming until late tonight. I'm going to stop answering the door at 7:00, though. Yeah, I know, I'll probably have eggs and/or toilet paper all over my house in the morning.
This is actually the first Halloween ever that I have been home to even answer the door. We usually go trick-or-treating ourselves. I've always taken my son to his grandma's first (his dad's mom) and then up and down her block. Then, we go to my mom's and go up and down a few blocks. That usually took all night because most of the people who live there are the same people who've always lived there, so I used to trick-or-treat at their homes when I was a child. They all ooo and aaah over my son, and they always have "something special" set aside for him. By then, it's usually dinner time, so we would walk back to my mom's for dinner, then home in time for bed.Well, a couple of years ago, he started wanting to go trick-or-treating with his best friend, so the two of us moms would take the kids around our own neighborhood after I did both grandmas' houses. This year, however, my child decided he didn't want to go out at all, even though his best friend's mom called me to see if we were getting together. We did stop at my mom's, though, so he got a treat from Grandma, and her neighbor. Actually, he got a damn nice treat from Mrs. R. next door. She gave him a huge bag filled with candy and a Halloween card stuffed with $10!!
Wow, I've been rambling, haven't I? I guess if you've read this far, you must love me :) Tomorrow is our Friday with the babies, since they don't have school Friday. I hope it goes by quickly!!! I'm off to dip into my candy bowl!
Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble.- - - Shakespeare "Macbeth"
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