Wow, is it Wednesday already?

I kept thinking it was Tuesday all day today. Even when the announcement was made this morning to remind us that there was a staff meeting, my first thought was, "What? Today is only Tuesday, not Wednesday." Duh!!! Now that I'm home, I'm actually a little excited about only having two more days to go this week. Yay! You would think that today would have been a drag since Wednesday is one of the days I don't get a prep (=break) but it really wasn't that bad.

I've been a DIBELing fool for the past three days, though, so maybe that's why it's going by so quickly. There isn't a whole lot of "teaching" going on, ya know? Today, Between the Lions was on for a good chunk of the afternoon so I could get some testing done. I hate that I have to do that, but it's seriously the ONLY way I can get it done. Especially since I have no assistant. Years ago, I would be able to at least set up centers and then leave them with the assistant while I sat in the hallway to test my babies in peace and quiet. But, it's only me now, and it is imperative that they are quiet since the whole damn test is oral. If I can't hear what they're saying, what's the point? I'm hoping to finish all the babies by Friday. There really aren't any funny answers to share just yet. A lot of the "funny" ones are repeats of things I've posted in the past, which actually is pretty funny in and of itself.

I did have to call a mommy today. Not usually something I do, but I was at the end of my rope. I think I just had a very limited amount of patience since I'm on a deadline to get this testing done. The little girl whose mom I had to call is pretty new. She was one of the ones who arrived that last week before Christmas break. She was with us for two days, then we were off for three weeks. But, I'll tell ya, both of those two days she was there I gave her older brother messages for mom regarding her behavior. I told him he should talk to his sister while we were on break and explain to her about following rules, etc. Well, here we are, third day back, and things have only gotten worse.

According to the office, she transferred in from another school, which I find hard to believe. Her brother said she didn't go to school before, which I find VERY easy to believe. She has no concept of following rules or routines, she's very disruptive, walks around all day, can't stay on task, can't sit still, calls the other kids names, and today she added pinching to her repertoire! Oh, joy!

I'm hoping to get somewhere with Mom, but something tells me that's not gonna happen. The older brother is almost always out of his classroom because he's in trouble and basically gets thrown out. This is his second year at the Hell-Hole, and I believe he's in 8th grade now. I don't understand why his little sister wouldn't have started in August when he did. That really makes me believe she's just been sitting home and not attending a different school. Come on, why would mom send her kids to two different schools? Makes no sense.

The mother of these two is Latina (I don't know if the dad is black, or if they even have the same dad, but the sister is much darker-skinned that the brother) and the boy looks like a very fair Latino, which has been adding to his problems. Other than him and his sister, there is only one other Latino boy at the Hell-Hole. All of the other students are black. This caused a lot of problems for him last year, and he got into a fight almost daily. This year doesn't seem as bad, but he's still out of his classroom more than he should be. The funny thing is, I've gotten to know him because he's always out of his room. A few times I've volunteered to have him come sit in my room and help me, just so he wouldn't be sitting outside the office all day, doing nothing.

When the mom registered the little sister (with two damn days to go before break!) I was told that she HAD to be in MY class. I don't know if the brother had talked to the mom about me, and she requested me, or what. I really wish they had put her in that K/1 split class. OK, now I'm just being mean. Once all this crazy testing is finished, I'll be able to focus on what she needs and I'll have a bit more patience (I hope!) to work on straightening her out. In the meantime, I told both the mom and the brother that I'll be calling the house everyday, if need be.

Tomorrow, two of my babies are having birthdays. It always cracks me up when kids share a birthday, and I usually tease them about being twins. Hey, maybe we'll be enjoying cupcakes tomorrow! Yum! We're supposed to get some major snow tonight, so it might be a fairly small celebration. I've had 6 kids out everyday so far. Although, not the same 6! Again, that's great since I only have 24 seats!!!

Well, Stud Muffin is whining for me to feed him (who does he think I am, his mother!?) so I'd better sign off for the night. Plus, there are at least four loads of laundry calling my name. Unless I want to go commando tomorrow, I'd better go do it. (yes, I realize four loads doesn't really sound like a lot, but don't forget - there are only 2 people in this house. AND, one of the two hasn't even been home in almost 2 freakin' weeks. So, yeaaaahhhhh....time to do some laundry!)