Life is Good

Imagine feeling in charge of your day-to-day life. Imagine being able to plan your day any way you'd like. Imagine that the only person you have to answer to is yourself. Well, this imagined life is about to become a reality for me. After decades of being a "slave" to a school bell, being locked in to a required daily routine, and being bombarded with demands and expectations from all directions, I am about to retire from my job as a first grade teacher.

Oh, I just cannot wait! This is what I won't miss:

• having to pre-plan every day minute-by-minute
• listening to whiny, spoiled children tattle on one another
• tolerating co-workers who do not pull their weight
• wasting many valuable minutes of my life sitting through pointless meetings
• dealing with "consultants" who regularly try to reinvent the wheel when the current method/materials are working just fine (thank you very much)
• having to go on recess duty in any and all kinds of weather (This is lots of "fun"--settling tether ball disputes, keeping little boys out of puddles, retrieving balls thrown over the fence, chasing girls out of the bathrooms when they're in there yelling or hiding, reminding children for the umpteenth time not to throw bark, slide on ice, climb the poles, pick the neighbors' flowers, run on the cement, yank on someones coat, tease the neighbor's dog, play in the garbage, etc., etc.)
• suffering from tired and hurting feet, aching back, and throbbing varicose veins at the end of each day spent mostly on my feet
• sitting in chairs that are only 12 inches off the floor which set off sharp pains in my arthritic knees
• trying to be patient with children who cry because their mom isn't standing by the door the second the dismissal bell rings, they don't like what's for lunch, someone told them their drawing is stupid, they forgot their library book, they can't remember if they're suppose to ride the bus or go to daycare, a friend is playing with someone else, etc., etc.
• being evaluated based on student scores--not growth--raw scores. Translation: how many words per minute does each child read--never mind that they might have downs syndrome or autism, or that they were a preemie with a 2% chance of living (but survived and are dealing with developmental delays), or that everyone at home speaks another language, or that their dog just died last weekend, or that their parents are going through an ugly divorce and they don't know who they will end up living with, or that they had Oreo cookies for breakfast, or that they were up watching TV last night until midnight, etc., etc.
• not being able to use the bathroom when I need to

Here are the things I will probably miss:

• enjoying the innocence and cheerfulness of little children first thing in the morning
• having a sense of "belonging" to a group that matters (We teachers do make a difference!)
• seeing students practically blossom before my eyes
• having the daily opportunity to connect with other women
• reading to children several times daily--my favorite part of each day
• ummm, I can't thing of anything else

So, which list is longer?! Obviously I am ready to retire. It's been a great ride, but it's time for me to slow down, get off the fast track, and be productive in a different way.

Life is so good~~~