Where did my little baby go?

Hazel has become a different baby this week.  Every so often, there are a few days where she seems to change in every way possible, and this has been one of those times.  Scott and I have both been on Spring Break this week, so we've had Hazey all to ourselves. The family time has been great, especially since she's seemed to save a whole list of milestones just for us. 

The first thing she did was sit up by herself.  Although this doesn't seem incredible, it is.  For months, you sit your baby up over and over just to watch her fall and squirm around on the ground, frustrated, until you sit her up again.  It's hard to imagine that she'll ever be able to manage to get up by herself.  Then, like Hazel did on Saturday, she's on all fours and scooting back until she's sitting proudly.  Incredible!  After she sat up once, she was unstoppable.  I put her down to sleep last night, and went to turn the humidifier on.  When I turned around she was sitting up in her crib, smiling at me.  Time to lower the crib and baby proof the house!

I guess sitting herself up kind of goes along with the fact that she's also crawling.  Well, crawling a foot, then falling.  When we went to Magnolia to visit Rachel, Trampus and Tripp (our Godson and Hazel's BFF) on Saturday, Hazel decided she would do a few more new things.  She pulled up to a standing position!  I guess our furniture is too high, so she hadn't had an opportunity before.  Now she demonstrates her talents during diaper changes, which can be really exciting! 

Super-Baby also got her first cold and first fever over 100 during our visit, which she promptly transferred to her buddy, Tripp.  Sorry, Trippy!  Sharing toys with your friends is great, but sometimes it also means sharing cooties.  Both babies are already feeling much better.

Another milestone.  First tooth!  I'm telling you, it's been a busy week.  I'm also convinced that Hazel has begun to develop a real sense of humor this week.  Maybe it's from the time spent with her silly Auntie Ray-Ray, but she has started shaking her head and laughing at herself like she's doing something extremely hilarious, which she is.  When we laugh at her, she realizes that it's getting her some great attention and she does it faster.  It might be the cutest thing I've ever seen.

If you haven't had a visit with Hazel in awhile, now would be a good time.  She's entering a highly entertaining phase in her little life.  I just hope we can keep up with her!

Case of the Mondays

Next week is Spring Break, and this could end up being the longest five days EVER.  I felt so ashamed this morning while looking at my "Hood Weekly", the sheet the administration gives us on Mondays that highlights any significant happenings during the school week.  I was searching for anything that could possibly make my week seem shorter, and I noticed that we have a fire drill during second period on Thursday.  "Good", I thought, "that's ten minutes."  I'm in a sad, sad state of affairs if I look forward to a ten minute fire drill to get me through the week.  So very sad.

The Children are Confused

When I became a teacher, all those years ago, I was told that it's important to use your natural talents to your advantage in the classroom.  This brought to mind a flood of images. 

-- The cool, good looking, mid-thirties male teacher, playing his way cool version of School House Rock on his guitar to a group of adoring fifth graders.

-- The artistic English teacher with a room so expertly decorated in such fine detail that you have to wonder if the kids even notice or care that the apples on the tree all contain adjectives and the peaches have prepositions.

--  The former probation officer who can tell the difference between a kid being "sleepy" in class and being "sleeeeepy" in class (knwImsayin?).  BTW, that's a good teacher to have next door.

Well I don't play the guitar, I can't draw, and they all look high to me, so I figured I would have to capture  them with my charms, my loving nature and my amazing sense of humor.  First year teachers know nothing. 

I found out very quickly that they didn't get me.  They didn't get me when I tried to be funny, they still don't get me even when I'm not trying to be funny, just making fun of them.  It would be so much fun if some of these kids could actually pick up what I'm laying down when I have my sarcastic days...which is every day.  The blank stares just make me feel old and boring, even though I know that they're mostly just young and stupid.  It seems like my subtle jabs and (what I think are) hilarious comments are wasted on these kids. 

Maybe this is what I get for being a sarcastic teenager with a bunch of teachers who didn't get me.  Full circle, I guess...I just had a realization.  Someday, chances are, I am going to have to deal with a sarcastic teenager who is somehow exacting revenge on the behalf of all the adults I tortured in my youth.

" I learned it by watching you, Mom!  I learned it by watching you!"

Thoughts and Wonderings About Ramen

1. Why do they call it Top Ramen?  Is there a Bottom Ramen, because I wouldn't want to eat that.

2. Ramen NEVER tastes as good if you try to make it in the microwave.  It seems like a food like Ramen should be well-suited for a thing like the microwave.  Although they do have Cup-O-Noodles, which is microwave friendly.

3.  Is Cup-O-Noodles considered Ramen?

4.  The old cliche of  "tastes like chicken" rings true with Ramen.  It doesn't matter what "flavor" you buy.  Really, you shouldn't waste your time wondering what "flavor" to choose.  "Flavor" is not a factor when it comes to Ramen.

5.  I think I'm too old to be eating Ramen.

I'm trying to do what??

My 5th period is impossible.  I heard horror stories about them when I came back from maternity leave, after they'd had Ms. Jones as their sub, who is a very nice older lady but didn't have much of a handle on discipline issues.  I knew I had to come out of the gate pretty fierce with this group, and for the most part, I've handled up on them pretty well.  Hell, I had a student today ask me why I had to be "the second strictest teacher at Hood" which, I must admit, I was proud to hear.  The whiny comment validated the fact that I've got them where I want them. 

As good as I've felt about taming most of my classes who spent three months playing and not learning ANYthing, my 5th period has managed to continue to frustrate me on a regular basis.  They are my largest and probably smartest group, and having them at the very end of the day does not help matters.  They are crazy nuts. 

I have been warned over and over that when the principal visits classrooms he wants to see group work, cooperative learning and group work, so I have complied and made sure that we are in groups for most class periods.  I finally realized that I could give a damn what the Man wants, my last period will no longer be working in groups.  After separating ALL the friends and putting my 5th period in their new seating chart today, another teacher who was in the room with me caught a note being passed across the room, from one friend to another.  When she took the note and read it to me, I had to pretend to be offended, when I actually wanted to smile and pat this little girl on the head for her amazing creativity.

The note:

"Why did Mrs. Rutherford separate us?"
"Because she's trying to bring back slavery.  She wants to separate the blacks and the mexicans."

First of all, I'm not sure how separating "the blacks and the mexicans" is slavery but okaaaay, and second, this baby girl was separated from her two friends who had both just had parent conferences.  Somehow, she wasn't seeing the behavior aspect of the new seating chart or that these three musketeers are the worst of the whole class, only my blatant racism for putting her on the opposite side of the room from her buddies.  HER parent conference is tomorrow morning, and I'm looking forward to what her mother thinks about her daughter's latest insights.

"Mom, your friends are weeeeeird"

I watched our wedding DVD this morning.  As I sat there, I was imagining 10 years in the future when the wedding is brought up during dinner conversation and Hazel finds out that there's a video.  Of course she'll want to watch it, and of course I will let her.  Although the "F" word is uttered a few times and some drunk party guests discuss boobs, baby-making and being admittedly drunk, I will not be able to deprive her of the experience.  The speeches were so touching and our friends and family, though inappropriate at times, were so amazingly funny and candid that I laughed out loud and shed more than a few tears, even though I've seen it before and experienced it all just a year and a half ago.  There was nothing that I would have changed about that night, and the video really captures what a great event it was.

I wish that there were videos of my parents starting out, or my early childhood, or anything that could connect me to that time since I don't remember most of it.  I would love to be able to see what Mom and Dad were like when they were in their twenties, or what I was like as a toddler.  For that reason, we bought a video camera right before Hazel was born and I can't think of a more precious gift to give her when she's older than  the opportunity to tap into her past and watch herself rolling over for the first time, walking, saying her first words, playing t-ball with her friends and going to Kindergarten.  Of course, when she's watching the wedding video, I will probably be holding my hands over her ears.

Are there any good songs about Friday?

It's Friday, and I'm super stoked that I have two more bunches of hooligans before I have two glorious days away from this building.  I'm trying to come up with a song I can sing in my head for the rest of the school day, but I can't think of any about Friday. 

Sunday -- "Easy Like Sunday Morning", "Sunday, Bloody Sunday"



Monday - "Rainy Days and Mondays", "Manic Monday", "Monday, Monday"



Tuesday -- "Tuesday Afternoon", "Ruby Tuesday"



Wednesday --



Thursday --



Friday--  Okay, "Friday, I'm in Love."  I just thought of it.



Saturday -- "Saturday, in the Park", "Another Saturday Night", "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"



Alright, Friday is covered, but I guess I'm going to have to google Wednesday and Thursday.

I Can Blog From School!?

I was positive that there would be no blog updating from my school computer.  The firewall gods of DISD manage to find new websites to block daily, it seems.  In the past it was only Youtube and truly inappropriate websites, and now anything that could possibly be deemed too fun for kids is "RESTRICTED".  I cannot play any music from my computer, students don't have access to even educational gaming sites, and anything with video?  In the words of Jonathan Loar, "Fogedabaaadit."  In the midst of all of this censorship, my little blog has been overlooked!  Now I can perpetuate the failure of one resolution (grading papers in a timely manner) through the success of another.  Woohoo!  Okay, I REALLY need to enter grades...reaaaally.

Following Ben Franklin's Virtues

In 1726, Benjamin Franklin developed a plan for regulating his conduct.  He based his plan on a chart of thirteen virtues, committing himself to one virtue per week.  I have decided to use Ben's list of virtues to monitor my own behavior and attempt to cut down on my many daily transgressions.

Last week was temperance, which was not extremely difficult, because I don't generally drink or eat a lot.  I visited no buffets and avoided all opportunities to over-indulge, which had the potential to be difficult considering I am married to Mr. Chinese buffet .  Temperance ended up being a piece of cake (not multiple pieces of cake).

This week's virtue is silence. -- Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.--
This may prove to be slightly more difficult, seeing as I can't usually make it through a day without being drawn into at least one trifling conversation about a student or co-worker.  It really is the nature of my job, but this is the reason I am trying to lead a more virtuous existence.  I want to live a life as close to the one that I would choose for my daughter.  She deserves only the best role model and I want to be that for her. 

Lazy Sunday

Hazel is napping in her swing, Scott is cutting onions in the kitchen, and I am starting a blog. I usually don’t have time to read a paragraph in a book (the kind with more than twenty pages and no pictures), and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep up with this, but it’s a resolution, so here we go. I remember how cathartic it felt to write when I was in high school and had all the normal teen angst and at one point when I was much younger, I considered becoming a writer. In theory, this should be more fun than chore-like. Almost everything I do these days feels chore-like, so doing something because I WANT to can only do good things for me, right?

I have a lot of interesting things to write about. I teach sixth graders in an inner-city school, which provides enough fodder for its own blog. I am a new mother to a five month old, who is providing more anecdotal material by the day. I live in Mesquite, TX…Well, I AM a middle school teacher with a funny baby.

Scott just brought me a hamburger, which means Hazel will inevitably be waking up before I take my second bite. How does she know when it’s time for me to eat? How does she KNOW??? Wait, shhhh. I hear a squeal, and unless Sunny has figured out how to make baby noises, I must go.