A normal day!

It’s funny how people always comment that teachers have an easy job. We get all the holidays, the weekends and should never complain, well even more recently I feel this needs to be nutted out or explained more.

So many have done this before me and many will after me but eventually people may listen.

Today was just another normal day, let me spell it out for you:

It started by being awake most of the night contemplating the school camps coming up; thinking about the numbers, the plan for the days, the number of kids, cabin groups, activities, teachers going with, bus quotes and much much more….

Its not the only physical fatigue that eventually wins out but the mental. You fall into a fitful sleep for a few hours before the next day begins.

Up and at it from 5am, the dogs are ready to go, they let me know this by leaning up on the bed and waking me with the smell of ‘dog morning breath, you thought ours is bad in the morning……. man……. I cannot explain the smell of a dogs!

It’s raining so no they won’t get a walk and follow you round like crazy! Playing games inside and wrestling. You try to settle them while waking a 12 year old.

This in itself is an experience, you slowly ease the door open, hoping the sleeping child will wake as an angel….. nope today we have the tired and grumpy….. so you step away and hope for the best. That her 5 alarms set 5minutes apart will wake her and after the half hour shower she will again come out as a refreshed and energised angel………. nope………

Feed the dogs, feed the cats, make lunches and have the first fleeting thought of what’s for dinner…… who knows that can come later!

Rush to the car at 7 and head off the only saving grace for the day, your coffee stop on the way to work.

While driving you go through the day, the to do list! What have I got to get through? This doesn’t account for what comes across your desk that you DID NOT plan for! Let me tell you this happens ALL the time!!!

You arrive at work and it starts, you are go go go from one meeting to the next. A parent is waiting for you that you never knew was coming, a quick and cordial chat, but this has now taken the few minutes you have to ensure you are ready for the day.

Off to class you go at a very fast paced walk. On a side note, if you know a teacher, they generally walk fast everywhere!! This is a side effect of our jobs! Sorry!

Morning tea swings by and you shovel what you can in as quick as you can. If you’re lucky you get a toilet break. Off to the next classes, then lunch. This is not how most imagine it, where we all get together and have laughs and chats over a fresh cup of coffee and a hot meal.

Rather a frantic run to the toilet as you didn’t get to go at morning tea and you’re about to wet your pants. The relief is intense! Then we again shovel what we can in, sip some water and head off for the afternoon….

If it’s your lucky day when that final bell rings you have 10 minutes to change and get to after school sport, which you spend coaching a sport you only had a marginal role in choosing, to kids of various ages who are just as tired as you are.

4:30pm rolls around and you realise it’s not over yet, the teacher has to become the mum!

Rush the kids home, change in under a minute, chuck an Aldi $3 pizza, promising yourself you will plan a more healthy meal next time, in the oven, which you made the kids run in for on the way home. Set a timer and off we go to walk the dogs. Yelling behind you as you close the gate, telling the kids to take it out of the oven when the alarm goes off, oh and don’t burn yourself, and turn off the oven……… again a fleeting thought of, hmmm what if they burn down the house, burn themselves……. you don’t have time and know they will be okay. They have done it many times before!

I return home and wash the wet dogs in a split second. This is an event where if someone was watching they surely would think I was mad! I feel like a deamon who has multiple hands and arms, I think the dogs don’t know whether to enjoy the massage or be scared I am going to rage at them if they move knowing I am in a rush.

The neighbours are probably wondering what is going on, this wet dishevelled person washing dogs in the front yard barking orders to the daughter and her friend saying we leave in ten to take them to their debating meet, all the while I am thinking man I have to shower and change as I can’t rurn up to the debate in wet, dog smelling gym gear!!! Or can I?

We make it, with 2 minutes to spare and we rush to the debate, which mind you is back at school again!! Who would have thought…

An hour later, after being an active listener, while in your mind you are again thinking of what you need to do and what is needed when you get home…… anyway …. a great result at the end, they win their debate…… your dinner was a yogurt and a make shift spoon made from the lid – but hey, it’s food! It’s all you could manage!

The drive home is full of high emotions and what a celebration for young girls in Year 7. They certainly were amazing, I wouldn’t have been able to do what they did at their age!

This elation fades as we walk in the door, it’s 8pm and they say, “we have homework”….. a deep sigh……. a very deep sigh….. a deep breath and we all sit at the dining table and work our way through their homework….

Its now 9pm and I haven’t even sat down yet and have to plan for tomorrow, but you know what, I won’t have time. Taking a moment to myself and to take stock of the day, celebrate the great things that have happened is by far more beneficial than trying to be effective after what is another normal day!

Sleep may happen tonight, well I hope so!