Last day of 3rd grade

(This was written Friday, but the power went out before I could finish - glad this was saved! If I keep switching from 'today' to 'yesterday' sorry! All this happened on Friday)

It is over! Third grade is over! YAY! Any time to myself is over too... boooooo...

DD2 was sick today. Poor kid! I felt so bad for her - she wanted so much to go in on the last day. She woke up very, very dizzy and nauseous. She couldn't even move her head. I think it was the weather - she has very bad sinuses (got them from me) and we had some severe thunderstorms pass through this morning. They always get me, too. I think she needs to go to the doctor about this since she did not have it nearly this bad before her birthday and now it is pretty bad.

So, DD1 and DS went to school for 2 hours, and DD2 was well enough at that point to go with me to pick them up. She stood outside yelling the countdown (600+ kids screaming "10, 9, 8... 1... it's summer!") with the kids inside - as a matter of fact a couple of kids stood at the window to count with her which I thought was very nice!

There is a tradition at the school where all the teachers stand outside and wave 'goodbye' with white hanky in hand to the buses on the last day of school. We have participated in this every year, even though DD1 and I usually get a rash from the sun. Today it was raining and we were covered and had 2 umbrellas up, but my UV beads were still showing some UV light coming through, so I'm watching DD1 for a reaction. (Added Saturday - neither of us had a reaction - yippee!)

There was one mini-bus that was still there after all the big buses left... the mini-buses are for the special education kids usually, or ones who broke a leg, etc. The kid looked like a kindergartner and I overheard someone say he was in the bathroom and that is why he was late getting on the bus.

After the big buses left, and every single one of the teachers started walking back into the school even though they were still strapping the kid into the little bus.

I WAS VERY ANGRY!

What was this... THIS kid does not matter because he is special ed???

So I yelled at the teachers! ROFL! ALL of them. Sooooo unlike me...

I screamed, "HEY TEACHERS! There is still a bus here!!! Aren't you going to wave?"

They are lucky I didn't say anything worse! I sure was thinking a LOT worse.

Some of them came back, but more than half continued on into the school. Probably all that kid saw when the bus was pulling away was the mass of teachers' backs as they walked back into the school... not the few who stayed along the curb. I feel like commending the ones who did stay - but you know what? NONE of them would have stayed if *I* had not yelled at them! Not one.

I SHOULD have gone in after them and asked them "What if 20 or 30 or 40 years ago that was YOU on that bus and all the teachers waved to every other child in the school except YOU? Think about how that would have made YOU feel?"

But I don't think that fast. It took me a couple of hours to come up with that. Gads I wish I could think that fast!

I was one of those kids who was always made to feel unimportant and flawed by teachers. They made fun of me for my reading disabilities and coordination issues, right in front of all the other kids - and never provided any help. They encouraged the other kids to tease me about these problems, not only by doing it themselves. I have a 'problem' with teachers... I admit it!

But this was inexcusable. How much longer did it take to wave to that bus? One minute on the outside, probably more like 30 seconds.

They are selfish beings, just like the rest of the world. Teachers are supposed to get into this business because they CARE about kids. Not because they have summers off and want to start the summer 30 seconds earlier.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

The triplets got their report cards and they did very well. Everyone is advancing to 4th grade (though do NOT mention 4th grad in my house till the end of August of DD1 will have a meltdown)

DH had ended up staying home from work yesterday. I took advantage of this and took a short nap then went food shopping (yay, not with the crowds on the weekend!)

Now, when I go food shopping, I like to go the same way every time... but this changes if I look down an aisle and there are people - I will usually go down the next empty aisle first. I just want to be left alone, people, please. This has bad points because if I don't go down the aisle in order, I usually forget things... but it beats the panic attacks from being around people.

At the food store, I must have had on my "Old men talk to me, please!" face. They seemed to seek me out and follow me around and want to talk. UGH! Why??? Why??? I just don't understand!!!

One of them just kept telling me that he is glad he doesn't have to pay for all that food. OK, fine, leave me alone now. But he didn't. He kept coming after me and saying it over and over. Then he sat on the bench at the end of my checkout line and talked at me the whole time about how much food I was buying and other stuff.

I wish I was a rude person. I am too nice. I really would like to be rude sometimes and be able to escape people... but I had it DRILLED into my brain so many times while growing up to "try to feel what the other person is feeling", "put yourself in their shoes", "imagine yourself in their situation", "would you like it if someone did/said that to you?", "Do unto others as you would have done to you"... I cannot be rude to people. I cannot be nasty... because "NO I would not like it if someone did/said that to me."

I don't know how to get out of these situations without being nasty... so I just end up staying in them and suffer. I wanted to scream "LEAVE ME ALONE!" But no, I cannot do that. So I smiled and said nothing to most of these people.

Once I said something about the one guy's life not being boring, which I was proud of myself for thinking that quickly to be able to say. That was the first guy... who caught me the moment I walked through the door, I mean I was only about 3 feet away from it... after that I HAD my fill of social contact for the shopping trip, but then the other old men came after me.

Maybe I should get a t-shirt made up that says "I'm grumpy today, leave me alone" and wear it to the food store? lol