Life in the fast lane...

So it is so hard to believe but those tiny puppies from my last post are now 3 1/2 weeks old! They are the cutest things you have ever seen and I am afraid if I don't get them put on craigslist soon that I will end up being the crazy dog lady with 10 dogs! :) They all have the cutest little personalities and are starting to get to that fun stage where they want you to pet them and hold them, and pee when you talk to them in a high voice (haha it makes me laugh every time)! I am trying not to get too bothered with the fact that my downstairs smells like 10 puppies who poop all day ( I am getting neurotic and changing their papers every day)! I am just enjoying the journey ;)

School is 1/3 finished! I can't believe I have made it this far! Honestly it is really hard. Being a first year teacher with demands from parents, students, fellow teachers, supervisors, principal, BYU supervisors, etc... gets a little overwhelming at times. It is hard to please everyone and still have a moment for myself at the end of the day, but I feel like I am doing a descent job and I am learning a ton about myself, 2nd graders, and about teaching. Here is one of the life lessons I learned last week for instance:

If a 8 year old who normally follows every single rule asks you if she can go to the restroom eeven when she knows it is during the ONE HOUR a day (between recesses) that they aren't supposed to use the restroom... let her go... it is probably an emergency. Well I wasn't thinking and gave her the same response I give my other 23 students - "You know the rule during math time." and she walked away. Well she came back and told me it was an emergency and so I told her to go (obviously). Well.. OBVIOUSLY she didn't inform me in time because at that point she had already pooped her pants. She went to the restroom and tried to clean it up... unsuccessfully... and managed to get human feces all over the front and back of her jeans. WELL... on the way to the other 2nd grade class for rotations she informed me that what was on her pants was mud (she just come in from recess) and so I believed her and sent her on her way. 10 minutes later I was informed that in fact it was not mud, but poop all over her pants. Well folks, the story ends with her going home and changing and and very upset mother calling and yelling at me because I am forcing 2nd graders to 'hold it' when they need to use the restroom and blaming me for the fact that her 8 year old got poop all over her body. Now I take responsibility for not knowing that it was an emergency - but seriously... how does one manage to have an accident and then rub it all over the outside of their pants. I don't even want to know what the bathroom looked like.

Haha needless to say, things have been a little less chaotic since that happened last week, but I am much more willing to let any of my students use the restroom at any time of the day! I really am enjoying my kids a lot and even though it is a hard job, I am really grateful for the opportunity I have to be a teacher and influence their lives (hopefully)!

Well... the excitement for this week is counting down the days til the Thanksgiving break in Iowa with the family! I am so so so excited! I wish we could all get together more often!