To the Bone.

Let me begin by saying I love my new school. It is a positive environment for our students, and I believe that we will really be able to make a difference in the lives of all of the young girls and boys that walk through our halls.

But...dammit do my feet hurt. Never in my life have I worked as hard as I have been working for the past week. And sadly, I have to report that I feel like a first-year teacher all over again -- a feeling that I had never intended to revisit. There is something to be said for building something like this from the ground up.

I get to school at 6:30 in the morning and usually leave well past 6:30pm. My first few days/nights I definitely didn't get out of the building during the single-digit hours going home only to sleep for a measly few hours.

I have always felt that the Teacher Union in Baltimore City was the reason for many of the public school system's problems. Despite being a paying member of said Union, I rarely agreed with their practices and felt a great sense of freedom when I resigned from Baltimore City Public Schools and stopped being a member of the Teacher's Union.

I no longer am a member of a Teacher's Union...and as much as I regret to admit it...I think that they may have had a point. A teensy-itsy-bitsy point. Like having a period for lunch is good. Also, having a time to pee during the day is also good. Oh, and being able to sit down for a little while is also good. As it is, I am with my kids every single minute of the day. I am with them for breakfast. I am with them for lunch, recess and until they get picked up at (sometimes) 5pm. I take them to the bathroom twice and I look longingly at the toilets knowing full well, that I will not be going to the bathroom for several more hours.

As soon as the last child leaves, I am overwhelmed by the simultaneous urge to eat something and to use the restroom and I have to decide which is more important. I left my lunch at home once, and didn't even know I had left it at home until I got home and saw it sitting on the kitchen counter. I don't even know why I make a lunch anymore, as I usually just recycle the same sandwich from day to day.

I love my school. But I also love my feet. I must find the most comfortable shoes on the planet and somehow make them cute enough to be business casual.

Okay. I'm done with the rant. And if anyone from school is reading this: please don't fire me. I really am committed to our kids and to our school. Honest.