It's Been an Interesting

I'm listening to this 30 minute seminar on Focus on the Family. 

It's called "Encouragement for the Single Life".  It's a pretty good message here.  It's a woman by the name of Cheryl Martin speaking at a women's conference about, well, being single.  

I always thought I'd be happily married, living in a nice home with my husband and children and doing things wives and mothers do for their families. Unfortunately, my life took a different route.  I made choices that weren't exactly favorable to attain that happy home life with a husband and my children. 

I tried the online dating route. That didn't pan out all that well. I'll be honest, I'm not really looking to date.  Probably because there is so much going on in my life right now, no man would want to deal with it anyway. I need a strong man who has God in his life. A man who can handle some very energetic kids and won't beat the crap out of them either; and he can't drink or do drugs. Anyone else simply won't do.  

And if God turns out to be the only man in my life, well I'm fine with that too.  It's strange because it doesn't bother me anymore that I am single. 

It's kind of nice actually. Peaceful for the most part. 

Anyway, that guy I met online, hasn't emailed me since I messaged him over a week ago saying that I was happy to find a family of God's followers that I enjoy fellowship with after he made a comment about me "jumping in with two feet" into church.  Guess that was too much for him to handle or something.  He's a nice guy, just not someone who wants a Christian woman who is serious about her faith.

Oh well....

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Work has been fun for the most part.  My partner in crime(*giggles*) I mean the other teacher is leaving on a vacation. I told her she better come back or I'll hunt her down and drag her back to work.  She keeps saying she wants to find something else, but we both laugh when we say that to each other because we know we aren't going anywhere else.

For me personally, I love my job, sure some days can be very stressful, but for the most part it's a good gig.  And not too many jobs let you bring your kids to work.  And not too many bosses are understanding when your kids are puking everywhere and you have to call in sick...because you are cleaning up after them and tending to their sickness and then you get it the following day. 

One week I was out for four days. My kids all got the flu, then I got it at the end of the week. Started on a Thursday and lasted until that Monday when I finally got to leave work early that Monday afternoon. I slept like a baby that Monday, all I remember is that my head hit the couch and I was down for the count from 5 p.m. that Monday until 5 a.m. that Tuesday.  

I felt like a new woman that Tuesday. 

Best sleep I ever had.

These kids are hilarious. I have two that speak English and Spanish.  When they don't listen to my direction in English I use Spanish to give direction.  One little boy I will say "sientete por favor"(which means sit down please) and he will look at me and say(in English), "Okay", and he sits. Cracks me up every time. 

Then we have a few kids who like to remove their shoes and socks, eat their hair ties, and sit with their feet hanging on the top of the backs of the chairs. I don't know how they balance so well, they should join the circus. Some though, aren't as fortunate as their peers and just as I'm about to tell them to sit right, they slide or flop right off those chairs onto the floor.

I had one girl who, at three years old, was very excited to show her mommy how bats sleep. She hugged her arms around her(like bats wings) and went to lean her head back to show mom that they sleep upside down, and lost her balance, and her head met the book shelf behind her.

Poor baby.

I have one "Junior Teacher Assistant" who loves to help me. When nap time is over he is right there next to me with mats helping me stack them. Or he loves to collect the books, and when I give a direction to the children, he will repeat me like a little parrot pointing a finger and telling friends what to do sometimes as well. I have to look at him with a grin upon my face and I will say to him, "You are not the teacher. Only the teacher can give our friends directions." Then he grins at me and giggles.

My job is rewarding. True, it's nowhere near $15/hr but it pays the bills.  I wish the minimum wage would be the same as Washington State. That would be awesome. But it's not. I did get a raise, so for that I am grateful.

My ex got my boys dirtbikes. I'm not a fan of those things...especially for two ten-year old boys who do not have the maturity to be on those things to begin with. They can't even be in the same room together without pounding each other around on occasion. Sure brothers fight, but they get upset over the silliest of things. 

Last Friday I was late to work because of course the youngest twin took the front seat and my oldest twin wanted it. So we sat out in the car, in the early morning 90-degree heat and my oldest twin got out his phone and started playing games and my youngest son soon followed. So I was 20 minutes late because of that whole fiasco.  I was so stressed. By the time I got to work, my hands started tingling, my chest hurt, and when I was walking into work I was wobbly. I felt like I was going to pass out. Then my hands started shaking and I was like, "Oh, no...GREAT!" 

So embarrassing. My boss called me into her office as she was concerned for my well-being. My boys are still crawling like snails to the front door. My daughter had this look of worry on her poor face, and my boss asked me what was wrong. I said, "I'm sorry, I think I'm having a panic attack."

Next thing I know my boss is asking my permission to talk to my boys to correct their behavior. Sure, no problem. My oldest twin sat there with this smirk on his face and my youngest twin was looking at the floor.  Neither wanted to acknowledge her. And when she told them, "Look! Look at your mother, there is no reason you should act this way. You know better than this. This is affecting her health. What would you do without your mother?"

My oldest twin replied, "We have our dad."

She told him that was not an acceptable response.  

I felt crushed.

I shake my head, because I do not know what else I can do to save my boys from themselves. They are heading down a slippery slope when it comes to respecting adults and authority. If they don't fix this behavior it can lead to more serious consequences when they get older, and that scares me even more.

Anyway, I should go.

I have a living room to clean. Then I need to see if my children are attending church this evening with me. It's dad's week not mine.

Have a wonderful week. 

I will try to post a little more this week....but no promises.