Butterflies

I'm starting my 4th year as a Kindergarten teacher and it's so hard to put this time of year into words!  We have been back for a week preparing the classroom, team building with our staff and learning new techniques that will make things easier this year. I prayed over my room and each individual little chair knowing someone's pride and joy will sit there scared or excited or nervous in a few short days.  I have eaten less this week just for the sheer fact that there just doesn't seem to be time and sleep decreases as my mind is unable to stop thinking of all the things that need to be done and all the possibilities this year holds.  The closest thing I can compare it to is the beginning of a new relationship. I get those same butterflies in my stomach just thinking about this upcoming school year! You should have seen us when we got our class lists! You would have thought it was Christmas morning based on how giddy we all were! I think all of that shows that teaching truly is a passion and starts in our hearts! 

But that is the romantic side of teaching!  Every relationship eventually hits the disillusionment stage and for kindergarten teachers, that is the first day of school!  I'm sure you've seen the memes comparing kindergarten to starting a blender with the lid off or the little boy trying to get all the kittens on the blanket or, my personal favorite, watching Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergaten Cop attempt to wrangle all those kids! Sadly, every single one of these is spot on!  

Kindergarten brings about challenges in those first two weeks no one can prepare you for!! Will I have any criers? Will the same tricks work this year? Will I have any parents that just won't say good-bye? How many of them will have an accident on the carpet? Do I have what it takes again this year? Best case scenario, they all come in sit quietly and are ready to start their adventure in school. Worst case scenario, they are all up out of their seats, not listening, tearing up my room, crying in the corner with a few parents still hanging around crying as well! Either scenario is completely probable and that uncertainty brings about the butterflies in my stomach!!  

Kindergarten has such a different start than the other grades, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! The babies that walk in next week will walk out completely different and it's a privilege to be a apart of it! So, extend a Kindergarten teacher a little grace, or Starbucks, the next several weeks! I guarantee she is a little frazzled!!