tales from room 102 (part one)

[I love my job.  Like, love love love my job.  There are very few days where I wake up dreading going to work.  Do I dread waking up? Yes.  Do I dread being a reasonably responsible adult? Yes. Do I dread other parts of the day? Yes.  But overall, dreading my job ain't my thang.  Occasionally, ok often, funny things happen in my classroom or during my day.  Here's the part where I document them for your pleasure. Hopefully they don't end up being "you had to be there" moments.]

I am a creature of habit.  While I like to think that not every behavior needs or requires a diagnosis, I think I have some OCD-like tendencies.  Or, I like to think of these tendencies as just ways to make my life super efficient.

Like breakfast.

I eat the same breakfast nearly every day.  During the school year it looks like this: greek yogurt during first period (last year it was my planning period, this year it's my duty, so I'm not eating in front of students).  An hour or so later during homeroom and/or third period, I eat a banana.

This first week I was Struggling Stanley with getting back into the groove.  The first day of school I forgot both my banana and my water bottle.  I was in a state.  I was more careful the next few days, but forgot my banana again on Thursday.

Always one for preparedness, I keep a small stash of emergency items in my closet, including both a skirt and some snacks.  I'll tell you about the skirt sometime, if you'd like.  During third period, which happens to be my honors class, I realized that I had yet again forgotten my banana. The students were working on something in small groups so I walked over to my closet and grabbed a quick handful of trail mix.

Side note: Did you know that Trader Joe's carries 18 varieties of trail mix?  Eighteen.  That's a lot of trail mix.  My favorite mix right now? Almonds, peanuts, dark chocolate chips and dried raspberries. You're welcome.

Kids are always super curious about what you're doing, so as I was munching heads popped up left and right asking what I was eating.

"Trail mix," I said, "because I forgot my banana today."

"No, actually, you have a banana," some of them chime in.

I looked at my desk trying to see if I had, in fact, remembered my banana and maybe just forgot that it was there.  No banana to be seen.  So I asked for clarification.

One chatty redheaded boy proclaimed, " it's on your shirt!"

Here's the part where I tell you I have a thing for clothing with a whimsical print.  If you know me and/or have seen me in person, this is not surprising in the slightest.  I have items of clothing with chickens, birds, pineapples, assorted fruit, bicycles, dogs, more birds, the alphabet, barn animals, and more I'm sure I have forgotten.

So I look down at my shirt.  Apples? Yes.  Strawberry? Accounted for.  Orange? Right there front and center.  But no banana to be seen.  Witnessing my confusion a few kids point and say, "see, it's right there!"

Sure enough.  There's a banana on my shirt.  Exactly in the spot right under my right boob where I cannot see it.  But where, evidently, they can.  

"Huh, I can't see that" I say.  

And they all laugh.

And because sometimes I'm a sophomore at heart, and honors kids are generally funny kids, and because I can't resist the opportunity I add: "And stop looking at my banana."