WNBP: Strong Words

Every year, we end up with some kind of weird "theme" in my classroom.  We usually don't mean to...it just kind of happens.  And, heaven forbid, I end up having to follow kids through the grades for several years!  There is a risk of that theme tagging along for the ride.

A while back, the inevitable theme grew out of classroom need.  (It often happens that way.)  Hence, I had several kids repeating their mantra at me for three straight years.

Hate is a strong word.

I suppose it is good to remember that, especially since we sometimes forget how powerful certain verbal slings and arrows can prove.  But, sometimes, there is really a need for strong verbiage.  And, gosh darn it all, it feels so GOOD!!!!

As I weave my weary way through this week's Wednesday Night Bullet Post, it is entirely possible that a little bit of venom might sneak its way in.  I apologize in advance for that.  I know "hate" is a strong word and I will try to avoid it.  But there are some things that simply cry out for my scorn.

*Snow.

*Snow cries out for my scorn.

*Piles and piles of snow that have absolutely no business hanging out all over my car or on the path I must travel to reach work or sustenance.

*We had another storm yesterday.  This one left about a foot or so.

*I'm not even going to try to hold back on this subject.  I am hating this snow.  I hate it with the burning passion to ignite a thousand suns.

*And that is not an exaggeration.  

*Because all those suns might melt the stupid snow.

*It was cute at first. 

* "Oh, look at the pretty white stuff!  See how it coats the trees and makes everything all festive?  Such a wonder, a miracle really...Mother Nature all decked out in her winter finery.  Let us stop and gaze upon it whilst breathing in that fresh, crisp winter air!"

*Yesterday I wasn't so much stopping and gazing as I was kicking at various drifts and screaming, "No! Bad frozen water! Go home!!  NO ONE WANTS YOU HERE!!!!"

*And I don't care what the neighbors thought.  Frankly, I was simply acting upon exactly what they were thinking.

*My phone rang around 7:00 Monday night.

*It was Daddy Sheep.

*Who is in Florida.

*And who was calling me in Maine to let me know that school was cancelled the next day.

*Ah...the miracle of the modern age!  Courtesy of TV station text messaging, my parents can still be the ones to tell me I have a snow day.

*I actually had flashbacks to fifth grade.

*It's good he called, though.  My phone was buried in my purse and buzzing futilely.  My own version of that text wasn't likely to get my attention and I might have gone to bed thinking I needed to set that alarm!

*I'd have hated that...

*I am not a person who loves housework.  In fact, I dislike it a great deal.  I do it because I fear the day I am buried in clutter and grime and they have to send in a rescue team.

*You just know a news crew wouldn't be far behind.

*However, the plethora of snow days I've had lately certainly lent themselves to a great deal of dusting and vacuuming. 

*The Boy With The Cutetht Lithp EVER is not cute right now.  Not at all.

*He could be cute if he would start doing his homework.  But he doesn't seem to agree with my thoughts on this matter.

*In fact, he is determined to prove me not only wrong, but also to be an overly anxious, homework obsessed harridan who doesn't appreciate all the stress involved with being eleven years old.

*He has now put me in the awkward position of having to explain to his father that he has a detention for not doing his homework and that he has further placed the responsibility for the lack of said work squarely upon his dear papa's shoulders.

*Apparently, his father keeps him so darned busy that he cannot do homework.  Not even a little bit, so jam-packed is his schedule.

*His father was kind of surprised to learn this due to his having set aside homework time since TBWTCLE started school.

*I spoke with the lad about this matter firmly today.  It's not the first time, but it is the first conversation we've had since Dad and I have chatted about the matter.  It went well.

*In fact, I had him right where I wanted him: contrite, but not so beaten down that he wasn't willing to take up the homework banner and carry forth to fight the good fight.

*Then I got cocky.  And I tossed in just a few more comments. Like how he'd done his homework yesterday and now we knew he was capable.  A little bit of extra naggage to push the point home...

*I should have known better.  Rookie mistake, actually.

*TBWTCLE looked up at me and said, "Well, Mth. Theep. YOU need to underthtand that thum dayth are jutht better than otherth.

*I kind of hate myself for thinking I deserve the Teacher Of The Year Award for not strangling a student.

*However, if anyone on the awards committee had been there at that moment, I really do think I would have gotten at least Honorable Mention...

*The opposite of hate is love.

*And that is what I feel for my library right now.

*Because I was on the last thirty minutes of my audiobook and was deeply concerned about the state of my homeward commute.

*But, when I checked my email, there was the notice letting me know that the title I reserved was ready and waiting for me!!!

*Such timing my library has.

*Now I get to enjoy At Grave's End (Night Huntress, Book 3).

*This makes me happy.

*That is going to have to be my last link of the night, though.

*I am having a few internet "issues."

*Just so you know, I love my Very Complicated Kitty.  Very much so.

*But, even if I didn't, I still wouldn't want to see him electrocuted.

*Hence, I have to place all electronics very carefully.  If I don't he kinda, sorta eats the wires.

*My internet provider doesn't want to write up a repair ticket on my connection issues because my desktop can't reach the ethernet cable.  They agree I have a problem.  They just don't want to fix it without wires involved.

*And I can't move the desktop without dangling tasty, tempting wires.  

*I could probably do it on a temporary basis.

*But I don't want to.

*For the record, they fixed it last summer when it was broken and unwired.  And, even though the helpful service "specialist" wouldn't admit the problem is more of the same and clearly not on my end, he still wouldn't do it.  He even chided the other helpful "specialist" who did do it for me last summer.

*I hate my internet service provider.  And I'm not taking that back.

*I was supposed to bring my school laptop home today, then dig out the ethernet cable to set everything up in a super-secret, cat-proof location but I forgot.

*And I kind of didn't want to.

*Maybe I'll remember/want to tomorrow and then we can get this ball rolling.

*He Who...PROJECTS has been slowly inserting himself into all aspects of the school's key functions.

* He has full access to the kitchens because they love him there.

*He brought a giant cardboard box to school with a slot cut into it, his name on the front in magic marker and helpful illustrations so that everyone will know that this is where they can put his mail.

*The secretaries let him set it up in the office.

*Today, however, I felt we had crossed a very important line.  One that cannot be ignored.  He just went too far.

*I found him coming out of the men's staff bathroom.

*This required a "discussion."

*At this rate, I'll be working for him by May.

*Let's hope he is a benevolent overlord.

*I'd hate to disappoint the boy who successfully managed to take over the school in under seven months.

*Plus he talks very, very loudly and I cannot imagine how a dressing down would sound....


And now I have to stop.  Something just caught my attention.  Something horrible.

I just heard the weather dude on TV say something about a possible storm.  I cannot have heard that correctly.  I don't care if it's a "slim possibility."  That is too much possibility.  In case I haven't been clear, "hate" is not too strong a word in some cases.

Not too strong at all.  At least as far as this winter is concerned....

SA