What's A Schedule And Who Put Me On One?

I realize my posts have been of a school nature recently and that's because a) it's the first week of school and b) I have a new job and therefore the newness and the stress of the big change are on my mind 24/7 so you get to hear all about it!  If you're new here, I don't usually talk much about school except to relay hysterical episodes.  Just bear with me a for a few more posts and then I'll be back to talking about my butt.

Anna at MyLifeandKids wrote a great post about how exhausting it is to have kids that are school age.  She, like me, was surprised that putting your kid in a classroom every day can somehow be as exhausting as having a newborn at home.  She goes on to say that the busy schedule and the constant email updates and the papers and forms to sign just do a number on the brain.

And I got to thinking about what I thought was a horrible disease that hit me 5 years ago during the first weeks of school.

Like many teachers, I do not work a 9-5 job in the summer.  Like many teachers, I do odd jobs that require too much explanation.  They are often just a few hours at a time and I can do them when I want.

This leads to a dangerous path.

Because during the summer, like many teachers, I get to do what I want when I want.  I can go to the bathroom any time I feel like it.  Instead of waiting for the moon to line up with Venus.

I can eat whenever hunger strikes.  Instead of shoveling in food during the one moment I have free during the day.

I can wears shoes.  Or not.  And when I do, they are mostly flip flops or they are on for like 2 seconds.

I go to bed and get up at mostly the usual times because k-ster still works, but there's no rush to get out of the house before noon.

And not once during those months of bliss, do I have a single child biting my ankles.  No one gives me attitude.  No one comes up with excuses for anything.  No one demands anything of me.  No administrator plans sneak attacks to see if I'm reading the daily announcements.

And then, just like that, it's time to go back to school.  It's time to get up and actually get out of the house by 7:30, completely ready for the day.  Dressed in respectable clothes and shoes.

Where I don't get to go to the bathroom when I want.  I must eat at prescribed times or go hungry.  And not once during the day do I get a period to sit in my hammock and "chill".

It comes out of nowhere.  One day, I'm doing what I want, the next I'm sitting with my colleagues in the auditorium listening to the superintendent tell us that our lanyards are backordered and the next, swarms of kids are in my room every 50 minutes and WE'RE OFF!!!!

All of that dramatic change in schedule and behavior can really send the body into panic mode.  When I first started teaching, I never noticed.  And then one year, after the second week of school, I came home exhausted.  And then another day, I came home exhausted.  And I thought "great, now I have a disease.  I'm suffering from complete exhaustion."

But by October, I had recovered.  And it hits me every year now.  All that change in schedule makes one a very tired person.  So does talking.  I realized I don't talk a whole lot during the summer.  And certainly not all day, Monday through Friday!  It's exhausting to move your mouth that much!

Having to be and do can really take its toll!

Linking here:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/09/clever-chicks-blog-hop-51-with-egg.html
http://www.thewonderingbrain.com/