The first week of school is my favorite time of the school year. There is an excitement in the air that seems to dissipate as the year goes on. Everyone is excited for the possibilities the new school year holds. Students are buzzing about what teachers they like or dislike and what projects they will be doing. Both students and teachers get a fresh start. I love that each semester, I get a new beginning to reinvent my classroom. The opportunity to try again in new ways is exciting.
Every year holds its own challenges and rewards. This year my daughter also had her first week of first grade. She missed the first two days of school due to a sinus infection and pink eye. My husband stayed home from work the first day so that I could go to my own first day of school. When I got home after work, I had to take my daughter to the doctor. She needed to stay home another day until the antibiotics could take effect. I had to miss the second day of school to stay home with my daughter because my husband had a video shoot he couldn’t miss. Though it’s a challenge to miss the second day of school, I was where I needed to be. The situation made me evaluate my priorities. My family will always be a priority over any job or career but I cannot help feeling guilty knowing that so people are depending on me. My students where very understanding about the situation.
Just like I told my students…it’s not ideal to miss the second day of school but sometimes you just have to roll with whatever life throws at you. My daughter is feeling much better and was able to go to school on the third day. Soon it will all be a distant memory and forgotten as new challenges begin to surface.
Image of Kaia by Portrait Innovations
No matter where we are or what outside responsibilities take hold, life happens! And when you have a family, life is that family over anything. That's insane that your daughter had to miss the first 2 days. AS important as those days are, we all know that things don't start truly swinging until about the 3rd day after all the paperwork and getting to know you's are out of the way. When we have families, there is always a moment that will take precedence and make you realize that being with your family is exactly where you need to be. It's sad that there are some people who place work above taking care of themselves and their family when the truth of the matter is, no matter how great you are at what you do, when things go downhill, your position is always dispensable. I'm glad that Kaia is better!
ReplyDeletei'm glad that your daughter is feeling better. Missing the first days of school can make the transition a bit bumpy, but you do what you can do. Life is the performance and dealing with these complications is just part of it. There's no real practice, just the performance, that hope to get better over time.
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