Summer Madness

"No more pencils, no more books. No more teachers' dirty looks." I am finally finished with school! Today was my first official day of summer vacation and it was all I wanted and more.

After a long year of school, I always look forward to the summer. I look forward to not having to be up by a certain time to get to school. I look forward to spending more time with my children than I do with other people's children. I look forward to spending days at the pool with the kids and Bear. I look forward to going to the beach. I look forward to hanging with friends in the middle of the week as long as I want because we don't have set bed times. I look forward to play dates (for Princess and me). I look forward to visiting museums. I look forward to reading good books. I look forward to grilling. I look forward to feeling the warmth of the sun on my face. I look forward to being away from school. I LOVE the summer.

Please don't get me wrong. I love teaching. I believe that I was placed on this earth to teach...in some manner. It is my vocation. This school year was a good one. My students were bright, energetic, full of humor, and enthusiastic. They enjoyed learning new things and making connections. We listened to music, danced, sang, cared for crickets, played math trash ball, took walking field trips, saw a musical called Suessical, built things and created beautiful artwork all to support our reading, writing, and 'rithmetic. I took a special interest in each one of my twenty-three students. They all were shining stars, "shining bright to see what they could truly be."

The connection that I had with my class was one that teachers wish for. I really liked them as people. They were cool kids. My class demonstrated what they thought of me during Teacher Appreciation Week. My students and their parents treated me like a queen! Each day during the week, I was given a special thank you gift along with wonderful sentiments in cards from the parents and students. I received potted Gerber Daisies (one of my favorite flowers), two dozen roses, a beautiful handmade necklace, bookmarks, post-its (the cool kind, not the plain yellow stickies), homemade chocolate sweets, a snack pack full of Pepsi, pistachios, Pop Secret Home Style popcorn, Baby Ruth's, and Snickers, as well as gift cards to Safeway, Starbucks, and Barnes and Noble, and Target. To top it all off, I was given a gift card to Elizabeth Arden's Red Door Salon and Spa!!!! I love Red Door!!! The gifts were fantastic, but the sentiments in the little notes, homemade cards, hugs, kisses, and letters were priceless.

So, although I am ready for the summer, I know that when the end of August rolls around again, I'll be ready for school. But until then...here's my Philly shout out - "school is out and it's a sort of a buzz, back then I didn't really know what it was, but now I see what have of this, the way that people respond to SUMMER MADNESS."

Enjoy your summer!