Drained

I'll be honest...I'm drained. Completely and totally drained. Thank goodness it's Friday, because I'm really not sure I could get through another day. Not that we have a quiet and relaxing weekend (do we ever?), but at least the only children I have to deal with are my own. Don't get me wrong, mine are no angels, especially right now, but at least I don't have to deal with the attitudes of others. Last week when I was subbing in third grade, I had a child who just simply refused to do his work. I reminded him several times to sit and work on his math, and that just wasn't going to happen. Finally, I walked over and moved his clip (on the discipline chart) to yellow. His response? He actually had the nerve to tell me that I couldn't change his clip because I hadn't given him enough warnings. Are you kidding me? Needless to say I walked straight over to the chart and moved it to orange and explained that he was not allowed to speak to me that way. That is NOTHING though, compared to today. I was in fifth grade, and I actually had a child say to me that (and this is a direct quote) "I am allowed to talk back to you because this is a free country." I DON'T THINK SO! I said that might be the case but there are still consequences for actions, and he found that out. At the end of today I was reminding several students that if they couldn't settle down and be quiet, they were going to be following along from the hallway. One (particularly obnoxious) child asked, "Oh, oh, can I go too?" Needless to say her request was honored and out she went with the warning that if I hear from her again, she'll be on her way to the principal's office. And keep in mind, these children are rather young...can you imagine when they get older? What parents allow their children to behave this way?

And the homefront isn't much better right now. JC and JR have decided (again) that homework seems to be optional and only if they get around to it/feel like it. HT is in a phase where he is being sneaky and lying. And I'm talking BIG lies. Of course I'm not just letting any of this be okay, but I'm starting to feel lost. I'm starting to feel like no matter what I do, and I honestly hope that I do the right thing and make the right decisions as a parent, but I'm starting to feel that the forces (i.e. disrespectful, rude, and irresponsible children) that they are around at school everyday are just going to take over. It's an overwhelming and exhausting feeling right now, but I'll just keep at it (and with lots of prayer too)!