Holding my Breath and Running

It has been one of "those" days and I suspect that tomorrow will be one of "those" days as well- I have Parent-Teacher conferences tomorrow night and I feel more anxious than I have in the past few years. Last year I was on maternity leave during conference time so never really had the opportunity to converse with parents about their teenage children. While I've been doing this teaching thing (nine years actually) long enough to know that conferences usually go off without a hitch, there's always one conference that blind sides a teacher. For example, one year a mother sent me a scathing e-mail after I was unable to meet with her after the "conferences are now over" announcement was made over the intercom (Hunter was nine-months-old and still at daycare- 8:00 p.m.- I was already in a panic). In the e-mail she demanded that I send her my credentials and discuss my vision for AP American Literature. Yikes! Another year a father told me he'd be "watching" my absences. I pleasantly informed him that if my children needed me at home, I would use my sick time. Seriously! During my first year teaching (which began with a long-term sub position in Rochester), I noticed that one of the fathers was unable to make eye contact with me. After the conference, I looked down and realized that two buttons on my shirt were unhitched- Awesome! Why am I thinking about this you might ask? I guess I don't really know. I wonder what the unanticipated conference will be about this year....

Today is one of those days where I feel like I've been holding my breath and running, running, running. When I return home with the boys in the afternoon, I feel like I'm running circles around the boys and dealing with their every demand. Tonight Mason screamed and screamed- high pitched and constant "ah ah ah ah ah"- as I made dinner. As I was making dinner, Hunter repeatedly interrupted with "Mo-oooooo-m, get me this" and "Mo-oooooo-m, get me that." I was literally eating off their plates and trays as I traveled between them--- I was starving...hand't eaten really all day!

That's all for now. Hunter is asking me where his Buzz Lightyear is and where Woody's other hat is...