Laced with Complaints

Caution....complaints are a comin'!!!!!!!!!

I had a hellacious (SP??) day at work. And it wasn't even the kids. It was the phone calls. From parents. Before 730am. I knew better than to answer the phone. I really did. But I answered anyway, and I paid the price.

Phone call #1:
Parent: Hi. ____ was absent on Friday and you didn't give him his test yesterday (Monday). Why not???
Me: (to myself of course....BECAUSE I HAVE ABOUT 3,000 MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO THAN GIVE ONE KID A SPELLING TEST!! I HATE SPELLING, IT'S NOT A GRADE, WE DON'T EVEN GIVE GRADES, LIFE GOES ON WITHOUT A STUPID WEEKLY SPELLING TEST!!!!!!!!). Oh sorry, things were hectic, you know how Mondays are. I'll take care of it today.

Phone call #2:
Basically it was more of the same "why didn't you????????" from a parent, the same parent who delivers their child to my room over an hour late EVERY SINGLE DAY and has no valid excuse other than they wanted to sleep in....kids do tell everything you know.

Encounter #1
As I'm speaking to a coworker in my classroom with the lights low (because if parents know I'm in there they come in, even before the time allowed, because I shouldn't be allowed any private work time EVER) what happens?? Oh, you guessed it, a parent barges is, interrupts with hands waving in the air and goes on to whine about how I gave her a wrong date on something that can be fixed in 2 seconds. It was SO NOT THAT SERIOUS PEOPLE.

And this was all BEFORE 730am. Hmph. So much for getting to work early and getting some work done. Yeah right. But that's how it is. It's never right for me to get any work done for my self or my class, make copies, make phone calls, return parent emails (yes, they get me there too) and the like. And the truth of the matter is, I LOVE my job, I LOVE teaching, I even love my students, well, most of them. Hehehe. But I don't love losing all my preparation time to freak-outs from parents on matters that are not crucial. Emergencies? Of course call and interrupt. Problems? Yes, call me! But a missed spelling test? Come on people! I'm human!

And then, to top off the day, another coworked reminds me at dismissal that I need to stay calm all day long for my baby. Yes, I know that in theory I should, but is that humanly possible when I teach 6 & 7 year olds? I mean, seriously? I do slow down, relax, have calming music on, and usually keep from getting worked up about things. I really do that, but once in a while, my undies get in bunch.