preschoolers.....

I'm sitting at the kitchen table with the sounds of the sprinklers running outside and the attic fan running inside. It's quiet and peaceful and I am glad.

I'm not sure I'm cut out to be a preschool teacher. Don't get me wrong - the newest job is a BIG step up from the last couple I have had (with the exception of working for you, Michele - that was the best job ever!) I feel like this is a job I can do for a while - at least a year - without wanting to die at the end of every day. However, I also have had a headache for two weeks straight. I'm hoping it will go away, but the evidence gathered by two weeks of work is saying that it won't, so I had better either get used to the headache or gear myself up for an Advil addiction. (Simply put: preschoolers are loud. And kind of annoying.)

I had an epiphany the other day, while I was struggling to get Ellie, my super-sweet but super-spastic lab, to stay on her dog bed in the corner of the room. No matter how many different ways I tried, she still snuck off the bed and ended up in the middle of the room, getting her dirty black hair all over the clean off-white carpet. The epiphany came about as I was saying for the umpteenth time, "Ellie, get. on. your. mat. Stay there. ELLIE! Sit. Stay!" whilst snapping - it was exactly the same thing I say at work. Literally. During nap time, this is me: "get on your mat. Lay down. Stay there. STAY ON YOUR MAT!" The epiphany is - preschoolers = animals. And I'm not sure I'm cut out for taking care of animals all day long.

The good news, however, is that each day is getting better. I'm getting into the swing of things, and while I'm fairly certain that this is a job I will never love, it is one that I can easily tolerate, and even enjoy at moments. I just know that, starting right now, I need to be praying for patience (and would appreciate others' prayers for patience, as well), because if I don't find some more of it somewhere (anywhere!) the next year of my life is going to be a long one, filled with lots of scolding and finger-snapping.

So...in conclusion - not my dream job. But one that doesn't make me want to curl up in a little ball in the corner of my room and cry every night. So....a step in the right direction!

And, in case you missed it before (because I know I miss it all the time...) God is good. He is faithful and merciful and just so good.

Amen.