The First Week...

I finished the first week at the new school and I was about the most exhausted that I have been in a very long time!

These young boys bounce off of the walls like squirrels on crack!

The week culminated with Yibbyl following me to work early on Friday morning so he can measure the closet in my office for shelves. School doesn't start until 8:30 but at 7:45am a little boy stumbles into the classroom wearing only flip flops, swimming trunks, and a towel. I ask what he's doing here so early and he tells me that he slept outside all night and could not get dressed for school because his mom was hitting him. He was hungry. He was tired. He was half-dressed. And he came to school because it was the safest place he knew.

I get a t-shirt for him and give him a hug as the principal comes in to see what's going on. Mr. G takes him to his office where they can fill out the paperwork (CPS) and call mom to bring us his clothes, food, and medications.

During all of this Yibbyl was right inside of the office in my classroom and I can only guess at what he was thinking. This is the world of working with severely emotionally disturbed kids. They are a package deal with their families and all of the baggage that comes with that. And, as a teacher, you can never, ever condemn the family. In most cases, they, too, are doing the best that they can. You can only provide a safe place, give lots of love and support, and make reports when you hear and see things that you know are not right. And even then you usually only have a small piece of the whole story. Family dynamics are often quite complex.

This is already looking like it is going to be a very interesting year.

Today's Plan: Relax and enjoy my own family.

Comedy of Errors...

Yibbyl and I took the Goobers to the airport to catch their plane to Missouri to their dad's.

Unfortunately, it was the wrong airport.

We were in Sacramento 2 hours before takeoff and had to scramble to get to Oakland.

We arrived at the terminal as the plane was loading but it took off before they could get through security.

Of course, it was the last plane of the day heading to Kansas City.

What else could we do but find a hotel room, buy some toiletries and clean undies and hope for some good luck with standby status the next day.

We were too late for the 6:40am flight but they had room on an 8:30am flight.

The boys are now with their dad and only one of them will be coming home in 2 weeks.

I'm heading in to the school to pack up some more of my personal stuff and clear my old classroom out.

Some memories you just can't put into a box.

Today's Plan: Breathe deeply, smile, and turn in my keys.