The Day I Gave Up

I did spend the day in kindergarten today, so I could put together a few hilarious stories for you ("how come I can't hear the baby?"), but instead I'm going to vent. Anyone else in teaching right now will identify I'm sure.

Over the past months I have been hopeful about getting enough hours together to qualify for mat leave. I need 600 hours. That equals an average of 3 days per week. Sounds reasonable right? Not too much to ask. If I get 600 hours before the baby is born, I get 55% of my income for a year. If I get 599 hours, I get 0% of my income.

At the beginning of this year I was only taking calls from Niagara, making it a priority to make connections here and be available whenever a school here called. Then I began to realize that that really wasn't getting me enough work. So I recently started taking calls from KW as well, driving there either the night before or the morning of. It made for a lot of driving of course, but the mentality was that I needed to take whatever I could get!

The weeks have been unpredictable, going from 5 days one week, to 1 day the next. Very frustrating. I decided this week to take matters into my own hands. I was rarely getting random calls from Niagara, and often getting them from KW. So I decided I would go with Nathan to KW (he commutes 2 days a week for work) and call the "fail to fill" phone line at the board if I didn't get a call. You call this number and if they have a job that did not get filled through the usual automated system, they will call you to fill it. There have been a lot of fail to fills this year in the WRDSB. And you are basically guaranteed at least a half day of work if you call.

Here's how the Monday went:
6am: wake up and call the fail-to-fill line. Leave a message. Fingers crossed. Get ready to go.
7:15am: get in the car to go to Waterloo. Believe that you will get a call.
7:20am: get a call from the WRDSB. The school starts at 8:20am. Although Nathan is a fast driver, it would be impossible to get there in time. Turn down the offer of a full day of work. Get a promise from the woman that she will call you if she has something that starts later. Curse yourself for not knowing that schools started that earlier, for not getting up earlier and not leaving earlier.
8am: get a call from the DSBN. Roll eyes repeatedly. Turn down the offer of a full day of work. Curse yourself for not staying in Niagara.
8:05am: cry yourself to sleep in the car as you realize that world is against you and there is nothing you can do about it.
8:30am: arrive in Kitchener and spend the rest of the day bumming around feeling like the biggest waste of time in history.

Through this ridiculous experience I have realized that I am genuinely stressed out about this. I think constantly about it: am I going to work tomorrow, did I miss a call for some strange reason that is completely out of my control, is my cell phone on, should I stop in and say hi to the schools I know to remind them that I exist...and on and on and on. I am completely consumed.

As a pregnant person I read again and again that I am to avoid stress. It's not good for me (or anyone for that matter), and of course, not ideal for the baby. So, upon my husband's advice I am giving up. I am giving up on going crazy to get mat leave. I realize that having the ability to give up is a luxury - I really don't want to think about how much money I will not be getting. But I must conclude that it is not worth spending the last three months of this pregnancy as a stress ball. Sigh.

So my goal now is to enjoy the next few months (less than three to go!), and work as much as I can, but without turning into a crazy person.

Wish me luck.

baa baa black sheep

One of the wonderful things about kindergarten is that you get to teach them things that you've known for your whole life, and you know they will too. I got to teach them the nursery rhyme, Baa Baa Black Sheep. Many of them already knew it, but of course the words were mashed together for many of them, and I had to clarify what a "dame" is and other little details like that. The most adorable misconception though, was one little red-head who sang,

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.
One for the master,
One for the dame,
One for the little boy who lives down the drain.
Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.

:)

And speaking of sheep, as frequently happens, one little kindie came up to me with a joke:

"What does a talking sheep do?"
"What?"
(with sports-announcer enthusiasm:) "Play tennis!"

?!

Lovely.

add one to the list

A kid in grade four almost called me Mrs. Sherlock the other day "Sherlock Holmes on the mind I guess" she said. I was surprised I'd never heard that one before!

Good old grade one

I had the pleasure of teaching grade one for three days last week. I loved it. I just love grade one! They are so cute and funny and everything that I love about kids. They have no shame, they look at you strange if you question their childish behaviour, but at the same time they trust you implicitly. It's amazing.

When talking about my grade six experiences, I mentioned that "in any grade one or two class, after two days, the kids would love me, I would love them, and they'd be crying to see me go!" Well, below are three pieces of art that I received from the grade ones on my last day with them. They were sad, and to be honest, so was I. I would have loved to just move in! (ps. the names have been erased for privacy).

This first one, I was told, is of the sky, with a sun and clouds, and also a platypus. Don't ask me why a platypus was chosen as the main character for this little story, but that's just what makes it so wonderful.



Next up we have a lovely illustration including the sun, clouds (always an important part of a good drawing), someone trapped in a hot air balloon, as well as someone eating some delicious popcorn. Wonderful.
And lastly, a simple dream getaway for me. (I can't figure out how to rotate this one - no matter what I do, it won't come out right). Don't you just love grade one?