Exercise Eraser
Posted: March 4, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: agave, green monster, pita, running, salad, walnut butter 39 Comments »I love exercise. Meeker and I just finished an old crossfit workout: 8x400s – 90 seconds rest between each. It totally erased the terrible afternoon I had – more on that later.
We were so out of food this morning, I had this x2
ww pita with walnut butter and agave
Then, an apple for snack, and a green monster for lunch
applesauce, banana, peanut butter, water, milk, protein powder, spinach
I drank out of a flower vase. It was too cute to pass up. Don’t worry, it had been through the dishwasher. I filled this up x3.I snacked on some pretzels and sunbutter before my run, and a nice fat salad afterwards
Romaine lettuce, 2 celery ribs, 3 carrots – shredded, cucumber, black beans, salsa, balsamic vinegar + spicy mustard
In the 3rd grade world…
I usually gush about the perks of my job (and there are a lot!), but today I was reminded of a significant downside to my profession: crazy parents.
I had a meeting with a parent this afternoon that did not go well. To start things off, she waltzed in wearing her pajamas. Not a cute matching track suit or workout clothes, I’m talking pink pajama bottoms, slippers and a ripped up Guinness shirt. She then proceeded to attack me and a fellow teacher for failing to care about her child. She SCREAMED at us for a solid 15 minutes before my principal (who thankfully was present) told her to calm down. The problem: she doesn’t send her child to school, and her child is failing to learn things. End of story. The mom is so delusional; she thinks her child is too sick to come to school, and too sick to do her work – although she has no doctor’s notes, no documentation (I’ve never even seen the student sniffle) to back up any of the thirty-three absences – that’s a quarter of the school year!. How are the teachers supposed to teach the child if she’s not at school?
The meeting ended with the crazy mom crying, calling my co-worker a “sassy ass”, storming out of the room and slamming the classroom door behind her. The wonderful kicker is that she forgot her keys, and had to come back into the room two minutes later – nullifying her dramatic exit. I deal with that kind of behavior daily – but it’s from 8 year olds, not 40 year olds. It was so crazy it was comical. But it never feels good to be yelled at – especially when you’re being accused of not caring about a child’s well being/education. Does she think we do this job for the money??
OK I so know who this is…and well hmm in the south we say: Something ain’t right there! She needs to be tested. Social Services hello!!! Yea I taught school for $22,000 a YEAR yep..big bucks! One person even told me well you work 9-10 mos a year so that is a good salary. You teach b/c you love it or you love the kids and no other reason!
Remind me to make a dramatic exit…..I will wear fake nails, a wig and bright lipstick! Not…I will go kindly….
That salad is yummy lookin!! Night
OH my gosh! i am soo sorry girl!! you DEF dont do it for the money-you do it for the love and passion you have in your heart for kids like hers! ahh im sorry..good thing tommo is friday and you get a much deserved BREAK!
How hard was it NOT to laugh wen she said “sassy ass”??? I giggled just reading it! Bless your heart for dealing with that crap.
~Christie http://rollerkoesterrun.wordpress.com/
Parents truly can be a pain and difficult to deal with. I haven’t had quite that dramatic an experience, but sometimes they stress me out!
At least she cared enough to dress up… I feel horrible for the child in situations like that. She is a third grader and really if every parent was that ignorant and left the choice up to the child whether or not to go to school, i don’t know how many would make the “right” decision. Although i always found school to be enjoyable, and i’m sure you make it extremely fun and interesting for all of your kids! I bet you that woman went all the way back to where she parked her house in the parking lot before noticing she didn’t have her keys…
Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry you had to deal with that. This actually breaks my heart b/c if she treats other people this way in public how does she treat her family behind closed doors. I don’t even want to think about it.
I with Christie – how did you not crack up at “sassy ass”!!! Oh geez!!!
yikes, parents from hell! i would hate to deal with that. you’re brave. the beans on your salad look awfully enticing! love that you drank out of a bug vase
Holy green monster! I need to start making those again since the weather is getting warmer.
I was an assistant teacher for one year, and I had a parent yell at me once because I had to send her child to the principle. (Trust me, I gave the child more than his share of chances and warnings. Probably too many…). It’s NEVER easy to be yelled at… Today will be a better day!!
LOVE that heart vase- it is so cute. I always wondered if you had to deal with dramatic parents. I was a cheerleading coach for 3 yrs, and not that it is the same thing at ALL, but I couldn’t handle dealing with the parents!
Been there, done that. Hang in there girly. You’re an awesome teacher and doing a great job. I know it’s hard, but don’t let that crazy woman get you down. Remember, all of us teachers, even the best of teachers, have to deal with problematic parents. Annnnnnd, it’s FRIDAY!!
Been there and done that as well. Stay true to your convictions and just feel sorry for the child that she has to go through life with a mother like that. Some parents are just crazy and there’s nothing you can do to please them. I have one this year as well. Just remember all the good things you do for all the kiddies in your class each day and smile because TGIF!
The food supply is running low over here too.
Oh, and I love the ladybug cup. Adorable.
Oh God, that woman sounds like a nightmare!! I’m glad you have your principal’s support. That flower vase is an adorable glass!
KAAAATTTTIEEE! Haha – I could write you a novel on tofurky! It’s a little funky at first but I’ve actually found the taste has grown on me now…I prefer Light Life Smart Deli (http://www.lightlife.com/product_detail.jsp?p=smartdeliturkey) though, it’s definitely the best tasting fake meat I’ve ever had.
And haha – we switched things up with our workouts. I’ve been working such late hours that I find it’s just easier to get it done before the day even starts so I don’t have to worry about being completely exhausted and trying to squeeze it in.
Anyway, work isn’t killing me too much but it’s definitely been taking up a good amount of time…which isn’t such a bad thing. I prefer to be busy, it’s just sad I can’t blog as much as I’d like to (or ever at all!!).
Your green monsters look so amazing. I always want to gobble them up…or, slurp them up? Haha. And I love that glass!
Glad you and meeker had a good workout – I <3 exercise too
And glad to see that there's still never a dull day when dealing with the 3rd grade world. HAHA. My Mike's mom is a teacher and the stories she tells me…OH BOY.
I hope you're doing well!
parents are the worst. seriously. and it seems to me like she might not be the best parent, so who is she to hate on the people that actually teach her children? gah, this makes me mad.
what doesn’t make me mad – workouts! after i finish them of course. i am right with you – they always make you feel SO MUCH better!
catch up this weekend!
I find it appalling the way parents expect teachers to raise their children for them now. Glad your principal was available to back you hope and good luck dealing with the crazy pajama lady!
AMAZING LOOKING SALAD!!! =)
Sorry about the teacher, I am sure it is difficult to deal with at times. My friend used to work in an office in a school in Denver that wasn’t in the best part (low income) of the city and she would always tell me about crazy parents she saw on a daily basis. =O It ended up being to much for her in the end and she left her position there as she couldn’t stand to see how bad the parents were on a daily basis. I have to give it to you guys, I don’t think I could do it!
Oh so sorry Katie! But at least it is funny that her dramatic exit was ruined…that was the best part!
You are a saint for dealing with people like that…truly.
Sorry about the terrible parent. We have customers like that where I work and it is just so ridiculous. Your salad looks so good!
Don’t let that silly parent affect your weekend.
ugh, I’m sorry about that beast.
You poor thing. I can remember kid’s mother’s that were like that when I was in school. So delusional it’s sad. And you don’t deserve to be on the recieving end of that!
I spelled receiving wrong, and just couldn’t ignore it. Whew, I feel better
oh wow I’m sorry. I guess that is the really difficult part about teaching. I’ve heard so many horror stories just like yours. eek.
First of all, that lady sounds atrocious.. poor you and poor kid!
I do love that hearts glass though!! Very cute..
How do you like CrossFit? Pen pal’s military, so he does it regularly and loves it, but it sounds so painful when he describes it haha. How’d you get into it?
http://www.joelygolightly.wordpress.com
Delicious eats!
That green monster looked AH-MAZING…
Have a great Friday!
Brazilian XOXO´s,
Gabriela
i cant even imagine you having to deal with that??!! do you keep a bottle of jack daniels in your desk drawer for those types of events ? LOL
Preach on sister! I’ve been reading your blog for about a month now, and I absolutely love it. I teach 4th grade and have had my share of crazy parents. That is definitely the part of the job that can be stressful. Kudos to you for keeping your composure and I’m glad you had your principal’s support. Hang in there!
Wow. As hard as teachers work and all the good work they DO, this is just crappy. I’m sorry you had to deal with that.
I do like “sassy ass,” tho, and may have to borrow that for my next crazy outburst!
I have no idea how teachers do it. There are so many crazy parents out there, or ones who think their kids are perfect and do no wrong. Ugh!
Sorry about your bad parent meeting! It made me sad – for you, and that parent, and her child. (I agree with a previous comment that “sassy-ass” is kind of funny tho!) It’s times like this when I am so thankful spring break is around the corner – we all need it – teachers, parents, kids! I know it’s hard to sit through things like that, and I don’t want to sound all touchy-feely, but I went to a workshop about this kind of thing once and it was really interesting. The basic idea (to sum up an 8 hour workshop into two sentences) is that some parents come to our classroom door with baggage we can’t possibly understand or know about. But if we try to think just a little bit about what might be in that baggage, we would see that it had nothing to do with us personally, and very little to do with us as teachers. I’m not trying to sound preachy, believe me. Those kinds of encounters really get me down. I’m just trying to say that now I do think about them differently than I used to.
On a totally different note, for being out of food, your eats looked pretty awesome! Hope next week starts on a positive note for you!
Thank you so much for your kind comment and your advice! I’m open to ALL suggestions/words or wisdom – believe me, as a second year teacher I can’t get enough advice. After a day or two to reflect on this meeting, I realized that I shouldn’t be judging the mom – but rather doing my best to help her child when she is under my care. It’s not my place to judge her because she obviously has a lot of things/issues that I don’t fully understand. Thank you again for your perspective!
My mom has had many many crazy parents over the years. Some people just dont know WHATS going on. I cant believe she showed up in her pajamas. Thats a really good way to get people to take you seriously.
i’ve just set up a new blog after yours and others inspired me, please find it at
http://healthyappletite.wordpress.com/
thanks! xx
[...] I have to thank you all for your incredibly kind comments regarding the crazy mom. After a few days to reflect on the situation, I realized that I shouldn’t have been so [...]
Would you laugh if I showed up a parent/teacher conference in pjs??? That’s what hubby says I should do as a big joke. He’s such a wise a#%…or maybe a “sassy a$%” ;D So sorry that happened. I would react poorly and then think later she must be a really unhappy person and feel horrible for her daughter cause she lives with her! I had a not-so-great (putting in mildly) mother growing up. It sucks. That girl needs all the love you can give her cause I’m sure she isn’t getting it at home. You are a fabulous teacher and we are sooooooo thankful “Rufus” got you this year. You have no idea. ;D
awesome. seriously, isnt it crazy what looney people are out there…sometimes when i describe my patients and their family members to others they just sound too ridiculous to be not made up…you are a saint for dealing with it all.
Belated commiseration: maybe you’re right about the judgmental thing. I’m sure psycho-Mom was actually an upstanding citizen caught on a bad day whose perspective on your slovenly teaching practices was understandable. Or—and I’m extrapolating here—perhaps she really had awakened from a drunken stupor with a killer hangover, sprayed her ‘pits with Lysol, grabbed her kid and gobbled a roll of Mentos while careening through the streets to arrive, already screeching, at your meeting and cuss you out. I’m just saying . . . .
[...] been very fortunate to have some very supportive parents, but unfortunately I’ve also had some very judgmental and accusatory parents. I don’t think they realize that I have the [...]