Life of the Patrol

Momoko had to go to college class today. So I had to leave work early to get Little Kat from school. I was working as fast as I could. And I made sure I did not volunteer for any new work to be done today.

I got to Little Kat's school and waited at his safety patrol spot. The weather was very hot. I was directly under the sun. My work shoes are black. The sun heated them up so much during my wait for Little Kat that my foot hurt.

While waiting for Little Kat's patrol duty to end, I read the paper and practiced a presentation I need to give at work later this week. However I still spied on Little Kat in action.

Some kid tried to exit out the wrong door. The kid told Little Kat that somebody else told him he could exit. Little Kat informed this guy that Little Kat was telling him that he could not. Some other kid tried to cut through the line and go the wrong way. Little Kat directed him back into the line. The bus driver got out of the bus and told Little Kat that the rules made no sense.

Normally we teach kids such as Little Kat to obey all direction from adults. Luckily I am sure that the teacher in charge of patrols laid down the rules for kid movement after school. And that teacher's rules trump any bus driver opinions. It was interesting to see how Little Kat ignored the bus driver's commentary. Perhaps I will get Little Kat to inform the bus driver that the rules are determined by the teacher in charge of patrols, and that any complaints need to be taken up with the boss.

Time to Take a Break

Life has been moving at a record pace lately. I seem to be on the go most of the time. I have been looking forward to the weekend so that I can just relax but that has not seemed to happen yet.

On Friday, I stayed late at work to avoid having to go in on Sunday. Being a teacher, you have a lot of things to do to be prepared for class and a lot of it happens after the bell rings. I also had to drop off Little at a friend's house because he was sleeping over. I had a parent conference and I had to pick up Kit at school because she is a "Prop Girl" for the school's drama department.

After I picked up Kit, I brought her back to my school and we worked for a few more hours. We were both pretty tired. We decided to eat at home and watch a movie. I try to have a "date" night with each of my kittens so that they can have my undivided attention and we can do something we both enjoy. Kit and I watched a "cat-chick-flick". We rolled into bed about midnight.

On Saturday, I had to deal with a flat tire and run some errands. I did get to watch a movie with Kit after Little went to bed (gotta sneak in the "cat-chick-flicks" whenever you can).

And here it is Sunday morning, and I am about to go back to school and work. I think I might be putting in TOO many hours but sometimes you have to do what it takes.

School

Well, it seems that Little grew a lot over the summer and I had to buy him a new wardrobe. He is going to be in 5th grade this year. I guess he will have a lot of changes this year. I happen to teach 5th grade at the same school.

Little told me he thought it was going to be a good year because he felt like he would be very popular. It seems he figures all the kids will know who he is. I told him not to be disappointed if every child did not think I was the best teacher in the world. I figure I should prepare him to the fact that no child likes every adult 100% of the time. He might hear a few negative things and I wanted to prepare him.

Kit starts high school this year. She has really matured during the summer. She is acting more and more like a responsible adult. I think the change is that she has finally learned to like who she is and does not really care what others think. I like that about her. She is a really good kid.

I guess in the children department I have been really blessed. My ex has not really been involved in the raising of the children, but I know he is aware of how great they are. Of course, that is a whole other story. So many things still left to do, school is just a heart beat away.