Two Weeks Paid Vacation

I can't believe I made it through the first half of the year. As of 4 p.m. today, I do not have to see the halls of my school for 16 days. It sounds like a long time, but I imagine it will go by rather quickly. Still. Two weeks of no lesson plans, no screaming children and no work. Beautiful.

 

Being the last day of school before Christmas, we had parties today. I got so many presents from the children:

• Two poinsettia plants


• Three boxes of chocolates


• Two baskets of cookies


• Some kind of odd porcelain girl figurine


• Some kind of odd snowman figurine


• A surprisingly pretty glass cat, which was actually really sweet. The boy who gave it to me kept telling me all day that my present was "really special." See, a couple of months ago I told the class about this cat I had for a long time that died last year. That day, this boy drew a picture of a cat with a halo and wrote my cat's name under it. I guess he remembered that and wanted to give me a new cat to replace the dead one. Or something.


• A coffee cup filled with candies


• A nice candle, which was perfect because it replaced one that I already had of the exact same variety that had run out


• A bottle of perfume and some other cosmetic stuff - the kid's mom and I talked about makeup one afternoon and she actually remembered what kind of perfume and makeup I said I liked.

The best present, though, was from a kid in one of the sixth grade classes, this girl Selina. She made me a bracelet with my name on it. Not my first name, of course, but Ms. Owen, like the kids have to call me at school. I prefer Miss Owen, but I won't complain because the bracelet is fabulous. It's one of those beaded bracelets like all girls used to wear when we were little. I love it.

 

I gave every kid in my class a present and bought the class pizza. They were really good during the party.

 

I'm actually going to get to see one of my students over the break. She's spending Christmas in the same small town that I am, so her mom and I traded phone numbers. I'm going to go get her on Christmas Eve and bring her to my house. She's one of the really good, sweet, adorable kids in my class so it'll be fun.

 

Other than that, though, I plan on avoiding people aged 5-12 as much as possible over the next two weeks.