It's finally Friday!

I love 12 hour workdays! Ok, that's a lie. But I do think the thing I was at school for is cool--it's called Cardinal Cafe. It's a way for the students to get their AR points. We basically start reading a Mark Twain Award nominee book during reading that day, and then from 3:30-7, finish reading the book. We serve the kids dinner, sometimes fit in an activity, and they take their AR tests. It's really a help for some of the students.

In other news, it's the weekend. I am so happy about that. Samuel was so happy to see me. It has been a major struggle for me to go to work lately. I know that he is really having a hard time. He was just crying like crazy when I left this morning. He has become super awful and naughty. He won't use the potty anymore. He rarely sleeps in his bed. I am really concerned about him, but I can't do much more right now, other than try to give him a lot of extra attention. The other two boys are clearly being affected by my being gone every day, but they don't seem to be having quite so hard of a time as Samuel. It breaks my heart to see him so upset when I leave in the mornings. So, hopefully I can spend lots of time with him this weekend...and with the other two. We don't have any major plans other than to clean up our house (it looks seriously like a nuclear weapon exploded in here!).

I don't want to take a lot of time tonight, since I was gone ALL day! But I wanted to post a little. I am trying to make it into a habit.

My thing I am grateful for today is parents who taught me the right things. I see my students every day and am just devastated by the lack of direction in their lives. Although a lot of that is just their age, it is so hard for me to watch them make such poor decisions, and know that a lot of their parents have completely checked out. I am grateful that I have parents who love me. And that they took the time to care about me and teach me the right things to do, so that when I was faced with the hard decisions I see my students facing, I could choose the right.