Omg. School. Its back. Miss Weight is back. Rm 224 is open for crazy.

Srta. Weight!

Teaching makes time go reeeally quickly. Summer is never long enough, but there are always a few days sprinkled in when I can say “today is a hammock and ipod day” and the hours are suspended in time, and I can breathe deeply and dream. And champagne at 11am is totally acceptable.

When school starts, there is no time for swinging and dreaming and bubbly. Its showtime! Jazz hands!!! Luckily, (and I know this is shocking) I love having a starring role. But this year I feel like a different Miss Weight. I’m no longer “new,” I have a system and an established presence on campus. Maybe its just cuz its the beginning of the year, my best friends moved away at the start of summer, and I’ve been having these depressing “no one will ever love me and marry me” thoughts lately (get thee behind me, Devil!).  So I will admit that a little bit..okay a lot bit…I am basking in students’ love. I am soaking it up. I swim in it.

I love the notes on my whiteboard with drawings of unicorns…..the girls running into my arms and immediately commenting on my haircut…asking if I’d met Brian Wilson over the summer…checking in on my fish Ke$ha…catching me up on the latest “who broke up with who via text message and so we hate him” drama….and the boys who have grown taller, their shoulders wider and their baby fat has melted away….but they still delve right back into the make-believe world we have in my classroom of ninjas and pirates (all in Latin, of course). And we talk the Giants and Bieber and the new hot lunch meal plan. Its great. I’m back on a schedule of lunch at noon, never getting to pee, coffee twenty hours a day to survive, meetings ruling my life, and an endless supply of whispers, notes, candy, and hugs.

And my new little babies! Sixth graders!!! Wide-eyed and confused, but excited that they don’t have to tuck their shirts in this year. They don’t look tall enough to ride roller coasters, and some are near tears as they come asking for help opening their lockers, standing in the hallways completely bewildered at how to get the right things for the next class and get there on time and not get run over by 8th graders. They are so tiny and scared. And for just a week or two, quiet and obedient.

After I get through my whole stern routine of rules and procedures in my class (yeah…soooo stern) I show a powerpoint with pictures of me from junior high, and tell them that we are all somewhat unattractive and miserable at this age, but I promise it will get better. They laugh at my overalls and chokers and ask what that thing is in my pocket (its a pager). And I show pictures of my family and my summer vacation, and tell them I’m the oldest of six and I was a pretty rotten child so they can’t get anything naughty past me, don’t even try. And I promise I have an extra eye and ear under my hair, I can use echolocation to hear them passing notes, but if they’re good we will youtube puppy videos on rainy days.

Everyone has a new haircut, shiny binders, fresh highlighters, packs of flashcards, hopes and dreams and good intentions.

Its the most wonderful time of the year!

Remind me to read this in six week when I’m crying over report cards. To remember that I do, truly, with everything, heart my job.