Several thoughts.

1. As it turns out, we're not supposed to say "mentally retarded" anymore. It is too offensive. Now we say "MR". Which reminds me of mister. And reminds me that eventually "MR" will be deemed too offensive and we will come up with something new to be politically correct. This makes me sad. "MR" is a diagnosis. There are conditions and it's just a fact of life for some people. It's like saying "Mexican" is no longer PC. THEY ARE Mexican. It's shouldn't be offensive, right? Rant, check.

2. What do you do with...? I have a kinder kid, let's call her...Sam. She is abrasive in her actions, her play, her words, everything. Part of it probably comes from home, but who knows. She's frustrating at times because she gets in a lot of arguments with other students and it seems like she is always in trouble. Her feelings get hurt all the time because other kids don't want to play with her. I want to help her, but when her feelings get hurt she just shuts down all ability to follow directions. I want to sympathize and talk about things with her, but when she's not willing to listen and then I get frustrated.
Some kids say "I'm stupid" to get a teacher's help, which often gets them out of work. But Sam says "I'm stupid," and I don't know why. She said it at lunch today, and again during a lesson. "I can't because I'm too stupid." She's not trying to get out of work- this never comes out during work time. I don't know how to help her. I don't want to play in if she just wants attention, but I certainly don't want to let this go unattended. She's a really sweet girl, with the best intentions. She just always seems to have a lot going on. So that's what I'm dealing with prominently right now.

3. It occurs to me that the only things injured in my car accident were my car and my pride. I walked away and am barely sore. But it's definitely a sore subject for me, so to speak.

4. Sometimes funny things happen in class.
Discussing the Swine Flu Vaccine and the demographic eligible for it upon availability.
Stephanie to me: Pregnant people?
Me: Just pregnant women.
Our professor, Beth: Let's not work on that one.


...as in, feel free to not get pregnant right now.
After, she apologized and said she should have held her tongue, but I realized I have no shame about those kinds of jokes. I was not bothered, and in fact cracking up because well...it was a hilarious thing for an adult to say.

5. It is nice for something to feel natural again. Teaching is something that, as it turns out, I'm not too bad at. In fact, I'm good. But I don't like always feeling like it was a disaster. My teacher and supervisor always say great things about my lessons, even after I feel like they flopped, but I'm slowly starting to feel like I have the hang of it. That my disaster lessons are not in fact disasters, they're just taught to five year olds. OCD can sometimes not play so well in to this career, but I'm getting it.

6. The love of my life is coming home to me in a couple of weeks. This could possibly cause an injury. To my cheeks. Because I cannot stop smiling.