Sure, it is February, and we’re all tired, tired of winter, cold, dreary days, and too much cloud cover. Still, that’s no excuse for bad behavior, but it seems to be on an uptick lately.
Gorilla Girl’s class is making a giant cardboard castle, designed and constructed by the children (they even have an “under construction” sign taped to the front). They’ve reached the painting stage, and GG plus two of her castle-constructing classmates decided to mix paint with soap bubbles in the bathroom, and paint the walls there, too, while they had the time.
I just finished parent/student/teacher conferences, an exhausting and grueling day, with high hopes that since the conferences in general went well, my classes would be on an upswing in terms of behavior. Not so. Today, I actually made a student cry — okay, he had it coming, and his arrogance and disregard for others has been a problem all year, but today, I lost patience, and he lost face.
I’m not proud of this, and my plan for tomorrow is to apologize to him, and to the class, for losing my temper. Clearly, winter has taken its toll on all of us.
At dinner, Gorilla Girl asked, “Why do I have to sit next to grumpy Mommy?”
Daddy’s answer, “Well, somebody has to, and you are probably the best option for making her less grumpy.”
A few days of February sunshine might cure the winter blues.
Or maybe reading Haiku.
“Blue Octavo Haiku”
by Rachel Wetzsteon
A wicked cage flew
across the long horizon
searching for a bird.
Rachel Wetzsteon, “Blue Octavo Haiku” from Sakura Park. Copyright © 2006 by Rachel Wetzsteon. Reprinted by permission of Persea Books.
Necessity is the Mother of Invention 