Refreshed

Ahhhhh. Spring break has ended. It had a nice run, but the last few days were trying and I longed for our comfortable routine. The kids did, too; they just didn't know they longed for it. Either way, they returned to school this morning. It's Tuesday so I had my copying job to do, but it was fairly quiet in the workroom and I accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. It was nice to see everyone and I'm looking forward to going back in a little bit to help in Matthew's class for their reading rotations. A teacher and I were chatting over the copier and she said something about this being the first day back. "Well second day for you guys, right?" "Yeah, but I consider the day the kids come back as the first day. It's so weird here when the kids aren't here. But then I think that must be what it's like to work everywhere else and be around adults all day long." Yes. Yes it is like that everywhere else.

Schools are also unique when it comes to vacations. And I'm not just talking about working nine weeks and then getting two or six weeks of vacation. Off the top of my head, I can't think of another workplace where everyone gets the same two weeks off at a time. In offices, that just can't happen. Co-workers start jockeying for days off around Christmastime as early as August, and February is when everyone starts scheduling summer vacations. It can get competitive. Teachers may have a lot to deal with and worry about, but you can't deny that their twelve weeks of vacation are a pretty sweet perk.

So because everyone just had two weeks off, they're all in a good mood. The teachers recharged their batteries, and the kids were happy to see their friends. No one's sick of each other yet. I should watch to see how long that lasts. I think I will. Like Bastille, I'm "gonna be an optimist about this" and say it's going to last longer than through the end of this week.