Prayer Time
Let us all bow our heads in prayer. I need it. I need it badly.
I went to work today and met the most awful group of little mother fuckers [and you KNOW I hate using that word. The F word should only be used when knitting or quilting, because I'm progressive like that] I’ve ever had the displeasure of subbing for. How can third graders be so bad? I don’t understand. And I have to deal with them for five more days. If I don’t blog for a few days you might want to call Mike and see if he’s planning my funeral or arranging bail because they’ve either killed me or I’ve killed them.
Those of you in education are saying “Oh my! Surely you exaggerate. Third graders would never kill you. They are nice. They are eager to learn. They are still kind of cuddly.”
That is my general opinion of third graders. I think this is the class must be full of kids who’ve been held back a few too many times.
While lining up for lunch I witnessed one child deliver a punch that would have made Rocky proud. While the assaulted student was on the floor writhing in pain, another student kicked him in the back. While I was watching! At least they were out of my hair for the rest of the day and will be out of my hair through Friday. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were packing knives or guns. They look like little gangsters.
That left me with a mere 12 students. You’d think with three baddies gone and such a small class left over life would be peaceful and quiet. Oh no. There were still four students who couldn’t sit still, couldn’t follow directions, and couldn’t keep their mouths shut. This was not normal third grade squirming and giggling though. Oh no. This was on a whole new level. One girl was shaking her tiny titties in the faces of the boys. Kids were dancing all around, crawling under desks, singing songs while I talked, etc. It was utter insanity. In the past I would have questioned my ability as a teacher, but the note said “this class has a lot of high spirits and needs a lot of discipline. Don’t be afraid to TAKE AWAY RECESS AND CALL PARENTS!!!” I don’t think it was just me. I called parents, I took away recess, I wrote notes home in the agendas. It didn’t help. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I hate giving out bribes, but maybe I need to go buy a big bag of candy. I can’t imagine my problem students would care about that and I hate the idea, but if it keeps me sane I may have to give in.
To top it off there is an emotionally disturbed boy that is in the class part of the day. I have seen him around the school many times and figured out he had some sort of problem. During recess he kept coming up to me and touching me. He rolled the sleeves of my shirt up, then he told me he wanted to touch my hair. He started crying when I wouldn’t let him. At least someone in the class is sensitive, I guess.
Now I’m sitting here wishing our stupid apartment complex would turn on the air. We have a fan going full blast, all the windows and doors open, and all the lights off. Inside temperature: 85F. And people wonder why I like to sit around the house in the buff.
And on a completely different note, I need some advice about something. My cousin just had another baby last night. He had a baby a couple of years ago and we sent some really nice (or so I thought) gifts, but we never received a single word of thanks. No phone call, no note. It is my life policy to not give gifts to people who don’t acknowledge gifts, which means I don’t want to send them a gift for this baby. It’s not a money issue, it’s just an issue of acknowledgement. We live far away so it’s nice to know the gift made it to its destination. In one of the pregnancy magazines I read it had a list of things parents shouldn’t feel guilty about. One of them was “Don’t feel guilty for not thanking people for gifts. They’ll understand that you’re overwhelmed.” So I guess that means I am a complete bitchity bitch for expecting a phone call at the very least? So what would you do? A) Buy a gift with not thought at all about the previous unacknowledged gift. B) Buy a gift, but not as nice as the other gift. C) Stick with the life policy and don’t send a gift.
I am so damned petty it hurts, which should be all I need to know to come to the conclusion that A is the right answer.
April 20th, 2005 at 3:57 pm
Ahhhh yes, 3rd graders. I think it is partly the time of year. I will have 3rd graders for the rest of the week (had them 3 days so far). I’m getting to the them or me mentality.
They’re whiney and hateful to each other. It just makes me CRAZY! I lost count of how many girls…ok and boys cried today. Over stupid stuff. Had one girl slap a boy across the face…as I watched and then cried when she had to return to her seat. ARGH!
On your other topic, my mother taught me to ALWAYS send a thank-you note. ALWAYS! And not those cheesy “thanks for the stuff” emails. We are to thank them, tell one thing we especially like, how we will use the item, and thank again. (Can you tell she teaches writing?)
I am tempted to adopt your “no-thank-you-no-more-gifts” rule. Sounds great to me! In fact, when I got married, I had the wedding present thank you notes turned around and sent out in under a week. I’d be pissed too.
April 20th, 2005 at 4:16 pm
I’m going B. They were rude not to send you one, but no need to stoop to their level. I just realized I am owed a quite overdue thank you as well! Hmmmm…..
Sorry about those awful kids. They really sound terrible. I had a class like that one year and at the end of the year I told them that I would read about all of them in the paper one day when I recognized their mugshots.
Thought I might get in trouble for that, but I don’t think they were troubled.
April 20th, 2005 at 6:46 pm
I would definitely do B. Your not sinking to his level, but you aren’t going broke either! :)
April 20th, 2005 at 7:07 pm
I am just so much the guilty party who never sends thank you notes..are you sure I’m not your cousin? Oh, wait..I didn’t just have a baby. Anyhow..maybe send them a gift and sweetly inquire whether or not they recieved the first one?
April 20th, 2005 at 8:43 pm
Depends on how close you are to them. I say A – if it’s a very close cousin. B – if it’s just a cousin.
Also you might want to inquire whether they received the gift or not. You could of mailed it to the wrong address or, maybe they didn’t have the correct address for the thank you note.
I do believe you should send thank you notes. But I am guilty that I have missed one or two for the above reason.
April 20th, 2005 at 8:45 pm
Oh, about the third graders. You don’t need this stress right now because your pregnant. Maybe you can find a replacemet for the rest of the week and get your sanity back.
April 20th, 2005 at 11:04 pm
For gifts I say B or A… all depends on how well you know them or how close you are.
So far my wedding gift policy has been not to USE the gift until a thank you note has been written. So far I’ve been doing OK with this… hopefully it’ll last through the wedding!
April 20th, 2005 at 11:45 pm
Hey Carrie, I haven’t sent gifts in YEARS to anyone in the family, but will occasional buy baby gifts over here when I am visiting said baby or if I am in the mood.
I have never had the impression that people were upset about this. I also almost never write cards, I do everything these days by email.
My opinion, send them an email congratulating them.
Sounds like the pregnancy is going well, complete with hormones and all!
April 21st, 2005 at 4:25 am
Yeah….just send a card or something. I think there is no excuse for not sending a thank- you note, or at least sending a thank-you e-mail..something to let you know that they got it. Some people believe you should only give a gift for the first child anyway….I guess that assumes that the parent got everything they needed with the first baby.
Good luck with the demon children!
April 21st, 2005 at 7:35 am
You know, I wonder the same thing. When did acknowledging a gift go out of style?
April 21st, 2005 at 1:55 pm
I have a daughter in third grade and I know some of the kids in her class are wild. One boy is truly violent (especially with girls) and one girl strikes me as sociopathic. I would go insane dealing with them on a daily basis. I hope you are able to keep them in line for the rest of your time with them.
As for the gift thing – I don’t have any great advice. If they had a baby a less than three years ago then they probably have enough stuff. If you did want to send them something, you could do a gift card or something… I, for one, am horrible about thanking people for gifts. I usually wait until I see or talk on the phone or email them to thank them. I’m not trying to be rude, it’s just not something I’m passionate about. I personally think you should do whatever you can live with.
April 25th, 2005 at 10:57 am
I would send a gift card, or better yet a package of diapers. The gift card allows them to buy what they want. Even something for them. The diapers are something that all parents need and you can never really have to many. I’d buy a size one and be done with it. I understand the aknowledgement issue to. I recently sent my cousin who had triplets a gift and didn’t receive any response. I had to send it to her parents house and when I called to tell them it was coming they didn’t even remember who I am!! If you haven’t talked to them recently this may be why.