Why can't everyday be like today?

If you've been reading here for any length of time, you already know that Chicago Public Schools never, never, never, EVER have snow days. E-V-E-R!!! We are in the middle of quite a storm right now that started last night. The snow is supposed to continue until at least noon tomorrow, and they are predicting 12+ inches of snow.

You also know, if you've been reading for a while, that I am absolutely ape shit HAPPY about the snow!! I LOVE IT!! The only thing that pisses me off is when I have to drive on the same roads as the morons that suddenly forget how to drive the minute a snowflake appears in the sky! I mean, C'MON PEOPLE!! You freakin' live in CHICAGO!!!!!! Either learn how to drive in the snow, or stay in the damn house! JEEZ!!!

OK, it felt good getting that off my chest. Moving on...

Another reason I kinda dig snow days (get it? dig...tee hee!) is that lots of babies stay home on those days. Their parents call a personal snow day. Today I only had 16 little ones there. It was wonderful. AND, the best part is that AM, the biggest PITA I've had in quite some time, was one of the ones who stayed home. Thank you, Jesus!! I could have dealt with 35 babies without a problem with her not there!

Around 10:30, I had to go to the office for something, and one of the clerks asked me something about AM (this particular clerk had a BIG run-in with AM's mother last week, so now she's always asking me about her). I told her that AM didn't come today. As I was saying that, I realized that for the first time in a loonnggg time, I made it that far into the morning without being all tense and angry. Usually, by the time we clean up and head to the bathroom, then lunch, I'm just so ready for them to get the hell out of the room. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to explode if I have to be around them for one more minute. (And, sadly, AM is usually the main cause of this feeling. The past week or so, I've been resorting to sending her across the hall to Mrs. M.'s room, just so we can have some peace in our room. It's amazing how much more instruction gets accomplished when I don't have to spend so much time dealing with her disruptions.)

Then, during my extensive 15 minute lunch (ha! I live such a life of luxury, don't I?) I usually pull myself together. Plus, it really helps that we have a rest time after lunch. Just having the lights off, lullaby music playing, (mostly) quiet babies.... ah...it's heaven! It's during this rest time that I do my more formal and/or one-on-one assessments (like our favorite - DIBELS!).

Wait a minute, what was the point of all this? Oh, yeah, my GREAT day!! It was so nice to have such a small group. Plus, as an added bonus, it was a well-behaved group, for the most part. (There's one little darling who just came to me in the switch, who's gonna need a 'come to Jesus' talk real soon!) We even made a cute little project this afternoon after gym. I actually took pictures for you!! If I can get this goofy Blogger to let me upload them, I will share. Oh, and I also took some great pictures for you the other day during math centers. We were making craft stick patterns, and they just ran with it. I'm going to try and post them later.

I'm off to warm up some cream of potato soup for dinner. It's the perfect thing to have on a blustery, snowy night like this. Then, I think I'll raise the shades of my living room windows and then just sit and watch the snow. :)

Holy crap! I have the TV on for background noise, and the evening news just started. First thing they said - it has been snowing in Chicago for 17 hours now. We are expected to have "some rough hours ahead" with lots more snow.