Problems, big and small

Small: our class fish died yesterday. I was actually bummed, since I've had him since my first year of teaching and he's been kind of a fixture in my classroom during my whole time at this school. I did, however, give him a very touching and rousing send-off this morning (he died yesterday afternoon); you would have thought that I was a preacher at an African-American church the way my voice was rising and falling. I chose 3 kids at random (because we didn't have all day, after all; it's a damn fish) to share their favorite Shakespeare memories or moments, and they were hysterical. My "drama king" stood up, opened his mouth to begin speaking, and then emotionally waved his hand at me as he sat back down. "I can't. I'm sorry, I just can't," he said, his voice mock-cracking. It was so funny. So 3 other kids shared things like, "I remember how he would swim at the bottom of the bowl," or "I'll miss how he was picky and the flakes he gave him," and "I'll miss how he stared at me when I was taking a test....actually, on second thought, it was kind of freaky."

Big: one of my kids is going through a major custody battle that I am now in the middle of (which doesn't even begin to touch what the KID is going through, since he's literally in the middle--in a big, bad way). Let's just say that a comment I made to his mom was submitted as "evidence" to the court that the custodial situation is affecting him in a negative way (which is not what I said; I did note that his behavior in class had changed, but also that this was around the time of our field trip, PLUS it was the end of the year in general, plus it's the end of the fifth grade year in particular, when the kids are basically middle schoolers in a 5th grade classroom, which makes even the best kid go all squirrely; so I told her that yes, I'd noticed a different but could not state if it was because of his home issues or something else). So now the DAD wants me to submit a letter stating that C. (class-president C.) is a good student, honor roll, blah blah blah); I told him I can do that but I could only state facts, and not an opinion on the matter in any way and he said he understood. And now I don't know if I need to inform the mom that the dad has asked for this letter or WHAT. Not to mention the most important fact, the fact that poor C. is generally worried about whether or not he should invite both parents to our graduation ceremony next Monday or just the one who has "custody" of him that day (Dad), because he says that "they cannot be in the same room together without fighting", and he doesn't care if they're both there but "Miss K, can you please talk to them and make sure they'll be nice to each other?" Truly heartbreaking. Last week, Dad had to call the cops on Mom because she refused to turn C. over on one of "Dad's days." It's a mess and, once again, it's the kid who pays the price.

Small: I have one of those under-the-surface pimples on my chin that will quietly go away in the middle of the night or erupt into the most horrendous things you've ever seen.

Big: Foreclosure drama; namely, I don't know how much time I have. I EXPECT that I will have at least a month from the time we receive the "official" foreclosure papers, and possibly much longer than that (the foreclosure process is not a speedy one, from what I hear). I have a friend I plan to move in with, but that won't be until early July--so I just need ONE MONTH. Please, God, just 4 weeks? (Seriously, I've known quite a few people down here who have gone through the process, and it's never been a shorter than a few months--hell, I've known a guy who has lived in a foreclosed house for like a year, because the bank has no buyers for it--but it's still unnerving when it's happening to you. I just want to hear something like this: Yes, from the time you are served the official papers, you will have at least 30 days to vacate the premises. And I'm not getting definite answers from Brad, mostly because he's not exactly sure yet either.

Medium: I'm working out the final details for our 5th grade graduation ceremony next Monday; not a "problem" but still a source of stress. I'm working on a special surprise that I hope to share with all of you once it's done. It will DEFINITELY be a tissue-alert situation, though. =-) It's my final "job" as team lead, and I want to make this ceremony (and party afterwards) a good one.

So that's what's up in my 'hood. What's new with you?