Unveil the fireworks, balloons, congratulations cakes, and words of encouragement because I passed the state inspections. After months of preparation, thousands (okay literally one thousand) of dollars, weeks of nightmares and hours of complaining at the injustice, the woman from the state came, breathed down my neck for 7 hours and then left, leaving me with a thorough checklist of all I failed at including just how many inches out of compliance our step into the bathroom is and how many inches off the ground our monkey bars are out of compliance. But, those small errors (some in my control, most not), do not matter because I PASSED. Unfortunately, the pay out for the work I put in is not exceptional. My kids are not suddenly ready to move up to the 99th percentile of Pre-K kids and my school program is not now considered the best in the state or any sort of a model of exceptional child care. But, I was not responsible for the shut down of a brand new Pre-K program, as I took the responsibility of buying and arranging the mandatory supplies, changing the schedule to meet the requirements, and essentially reading and complying to a 500 page manual on how Pre-K should be. As mentioned in previous posts, as I vehemently disagree with just about every part of the manual (minus the focus on language development and student-teacher interactions), my work towards this goal was not always enthusiastic, but wholly bitter. However, I am positive that had the state inspectors come in before I did all the work I did to be in compliance, our program would have been shut down. And since we were not shut down, I am proud. Hard to explain to people outside of my world, but I feel I deserve a party for my success. Start planning.
In other news, my kids and I have been on field trip overload as we are not allowed in the school for four days due to state testing (our rooms are being used for testing accomodations). I have successful shepherded 20 rambunctious four year olds around both the zoo and the aquarium. Now, this involves less planning and work on the forefront, but I also have the admit, I am pretty proud of myself for that feat. I have worked this job since July and never felt like a mom until the field trips. Something about being in public with my kiddos doing things outside the classroom and having them see me less formally has made me feel more motherly. As much fun as it has been, you will all be happy to know, motherhood is not something I am interested in anytime soon. Not for a very very long time. Next up, the movie theater and the children's museum. Wish me luck.
In other news, I am happy and optimistic for my plans post spring break. Come May, I am telling my kids it is their first day of Kindergarten and I am going to use the last 6 weeks of school to push them like I have never pushed them before. I know they are ready for the push and I am ready to challenge myself to really see how much they can learn. It's crunch time and I am prepared to start crunching.
No quote today. Insert your own quote here. :D
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