Last Day Blues

Today was our last day with the kids.  Part of me is so happy and relieved, and the other part is sad with a little dash of anxious.  I left after our Staff Luncheon - well, I left after I put away all the leftovers, including all of the other brownies, and made sure all the office staff and admin had gotten something to eat (they were a little busy today...eek!).  
These were my brownies...and they were all gone:)
One of my best friends and colleagues told me that for the sake of the staff and her wardrobe, I had to either stop baking or start baking non-fat yummies .  She might have a point.  This has been a stressful year, so the staff has had coffee cake, blueberry buttermilk cake, cream cheese praline pastries, blueberry muffins, chocolate...did you think that the OCD part of this blog was just limited to the classroom?

So after I compulsively cleaned up and fed everyone, I ran back in to my classroom, grabbed my purse, and hurriedly left.  Going back into the empty room always makes me sad.  I just can't face it right after the kids leave. Before school starts I can spend days happily puttering around in my room.  Before school starts I am hopeful and excited about what the year may bring.  The last day makes me sad.  Sad about the moments that I can never recapture, sad about the projects we never got to, and sad that they grew up and left AGAIN:)  You would think that I would be used to that part after 25 years.

It usually takes a restless weekend before I can go back and face the classroom.  I will wander around the house, starting little projects and leaving them to take a little nap.  Lauren (Life in Middle School) and I have already been texting about what days we are going in next week, what notebooks we are going to work on, and making me a blog button for you all to grab.  My mind keeps jumping from one thing to another and will not turn off.

So tomorrow, I will work in the yard, clean the house, and make time for a nap.  Maybe by Sunday I can focus enough to make a list of what I need to accomplish over the summer break.  And on Tuesday, I will have to go back to my sad empty classroom, but I will open the windows, and play my new Amy Grant CD as I tear down.  Tuesday will be soon enough to clean out and reorganize for a good jump start on a new year.

If you have not finished your year, enjoy your last days with this year's crop!  Try to throw in one more activity or project before they go.  And then enjoy your summer break!

5 comments

  1. Thanks for your post and the reminder of the emotions of an end-of-year empty classroom. You are right, there are always missed opportunities but there are also many 'wow, I didn't extect that' moments too. That's the reality of teaching in the Middle Years, isn't it.
    Enjoy you summer break and spare a thought for those of us Down Under who are only half way through our year. And we will think of you come December when we will be looking forward to several weeks of surf and sun.
    Oh, and enjoy the new Amy Grant album. I'm assuming you have 'How Mercy Looks...' Let me know what you think of it. Any was my first crush. I was devastated the day I found out she married and didn't wait for me...
    David
    davidw.edublogs.org

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    1. Thank you David:). And it never occurred to me that you guys Down Under were only half way through your year! Makes sense to me now of course. Our district starts back again the first week in August -when it is hotter than the face of the Sun. So that is always fun. Enjoy the rest of your year, and thanks for checking in on my blog!

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  2. I understand exactly how you feel about that empty classroom once the kids leave for the final time. Teaching is kinda like being a foster parent. It's so rewarding to be able to help mold their lives yet so painful to have to say goodbye.

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    1. Exactly:) It was especially painful this year because it had been such a hard year, and I was really attached to the group I had two years ago who really left me for the high school:) However, I do love it when they come back and tell me how they are doing. They never tell you about this in student teaching!

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  3. ::super secret message:: You can come over tomorrow and hunt through my cabinets for anything left behind in my new room. (but you never heard this from me!)

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