The Unbalanced Chronicles: Roughing It

Third day at work complete. I thought with it being the end of year and all I could coast through the two weeks. That’s the thing with being a teacher...there are no coast through days. I've been re-baptized by the public school waters...a field trip, observation, IEP meeting, report cards, workshop training, re-organization of classroom, assessment...all awaiting me. The good news is I have no time to worry about not being home.

There were so many times when I would rock my precious Carlee in the rocking chair during the day and try to think of all the creative jobs that I could work from home so that I wouldn't have to leave my baby. For example I could-

-Write for Harlequin Romance- how difficult can it be to write about ‘heaving bosoms' and 'throbbing members'?
-Walk/Groom Dogs- I could hook them up to the treadmill (that I never use) and Carlee has a ton of hairbows!
-Web Show- I read about a couple who made thousands of dollars a month by videotaping their private actions online and charging ...that is completely out of the question.... but I can do a mean electric slide in a full coverage glitter costume and I could probably rake in as much money...right!?
-Telemarketer...Can I interest you in a 30 day plan that gets you out of debt with only 56% interest?
-Start my Own School- YES your child can learn the fine art of cooking, cleaning, and raising children at Sechrist's House of Chores

Of course as soon as I returned to school, I realized why I do what I do, and it 'ain’t the big bucks'. Kids are 100% awesome, even when they are driving you a bit bananas. Yesterday we went on our favorite field trip to our local Boy Scout Camp- one of the Nations top Scout camps. Students have to work very hard to raise money in order to participate. Every year we sell cookies and lemonade to teachers in order to raise the money. This year I returned just in time take our kinders, first graders, and second graders with Mrs. E..... to Rough It for a day!

Fav. Quotes of the Day from K-2 Students:

-Mrs. Sechrist, I can count to 287…1.2.3.4.5…..

-Well you’re a big pile of ‘shhh…shugar’ plums

-I’m never speaking to you again until the day I die or until we get to school.

-Shouldn’t you be counting all of us right now?

-44…45…46…47…48…

-Let’s play Paper, Rock, Scissors, Volcano

-Mrs. Sechrist went to the Special Olympics School when she was a kid.

-There is duck poop everywhere.

-Does your mom spank you with a wooden spoon?

-Here is a Starburst Candy for you. You can take it with your asthma inhaler if you want to.

-Tlaquepaque (Mexican restaurant) is where my Chef is...it’s where I eat.

-Don’t crunch your popcorn up like that. Tell him to stop crunching his popcorn like that. Don't crunch your popcorn like that.

-She won’t let me scratch her finger nail polish off.
- 177…178…179…180….181….

-Chef D, I like pizza with meatballs.

-Smoke is like onions, it burns your eyes.

-Is your baby here? Why do you have milk in that bottle?

-What sound does an ostrich make?

-211…212…213..214…215…I’m tired of counting now.

Fav. Quotes of the Day from Teachers:

-Epson salts cure everything.

-This is the field trip; we are on our field trip right now.

-Put that boulder down, trust me you don't want to carry that one.

-Did you guys forget Mrs. Sechrist’s name?

-That is the High School I graduated from. Yes, the Special Olympics High School.

-You have a corn field beside your High School?

-Next year we are going mall shopping on our field trip.

-Sweat is good for you it releases toxins.

-Don’t make me get my new hair wet fishing you out of the lake.

-You know this bus driver is going to go 75 in a 35 to get us back to school quickly.

-Geese... not ducks. No, Geese… not ducks. Geese… not ducks.

First on our trip we created amazing and imaginative and creative creations with our clay.

Another clay snake anyone?

Next, Chef D. led us in cooking over hot coals- Pizza, Mac n’ Cheese, and Peach Cobbler. I felt kinda' bad because my food doesn’t taste that good with a working oven and a microwave.

Where is the button to push start?

Then we went on to the favorite- Archery!
Now that my students know how to aim and shoot, I won’t be putting anyone in timeout.

Last, we went on a beautiful nature hike, otherwise known as the demise of my breathing. Is that my heart or the beating of the Tom-Tom drum?

We gave them all a little cloth bag to collect any treasures they may find along the way. We were thinking along the lines of flowers, acorns, feathers, pine needles..........

They were thinking along the lines of a bunch of gray rocks. Yep. Plain, gray, heavy, rocks. Those kids were carrying around twenty five pounds of rocks on that hike. And guess what teacher they asked to ‘hold my bagggggg!’?? I told them there might be a few rocks missing if I was the one holding the baggggg.

Of course with the recent monsoon over the weekend, the class got a tiny bit dirty.
We just hope they weren’t wearing Dry Clean Only.

Even I (gasp) got dirty. Quick! Somebody get me some rose scented lotion and high heels! STAT!

Overall it was a beautiful and entertaining day. You could see God's paintbrush outside the camp and inside these children. Fun was had by all (and little Carlee was waiting happily for me when I got home).