Overwhelmed....

....because it's almost over.

Over for my class as their teacher.

Over for my daughter's days in high school.

And I am overwhelmed. Over-tired. Over-worked. It's a bit of a challenge to enjoy these days when one is like this. Cume folders, report cards, taking down the room, planning celebrations to close out our time together, meetings, end-of-year proceedures, pizza ordered, correspondence, and upteen million other things that teachers have to do during the day....and...oh yeah... make the day purposeful for 28 students.

This is a difficult time for me as I say good-bye to my class. You see, I am a 'looping' teacher (not to be confused with 'loopy', of which I truly am). I start with my class as 1st graders, they go home for summer vacation and then return to me so that we can do 2nd grade together. So I am their teacher for two years, and they are my world for two years. In less than 48 hours, I will spend the last of our 360 days together and send them on to 3rd grade. Every time I say 'good-bye' to a class, it is always harder than the last class before them. These kiddos are nothing short of amazing, loving and intelligent in all ways. Their compassion and kindness are unsurpassed.

I have been working like a crazed woman for the last two weeks on the video I make to send them off with of our last two years together. It has consumed my every spare moment, and I had to ask for help from a colleague, who has helped me out immensely. Today, I made 28 copies of the final cut - a gift for each one of my kiddos as we say goodbye. Today, my class and a wonderful class mom presented me with a book that they wrote for me about me - each child reading his/her page...it was touching and beyond beautiful....and left me a moppy mess of tears.

In 24 hours, I will be attending my daughter's graduation from high school at our university. Have 4 years gone by already?!?? Is she at the end of her senior year?? How did this happen, where was I and where did the time go?!? I will attend the ceremony by myself, and I am afraid of this a bit. I don't want to be presented with the situation of having to be magnanimous to my ex. It's not what I had dreamed of for this day. But there is a reason that it is playing out to be so, and so it is. I think I am afraid of a flood of emotions from both her graduating and saying 'good-bye' to my class hitting me all at once. I hope the people I sit by are understanding...and carry extra kleenex with them!

The other night I made a 'memory board' for her. I'll post it next time. I just got my camera back from the shop where it had to be taken apart because of a speck of something deciding to get behind my lens... unbelievable how much a speck can end up costing! Tonight, I am letting myself catch up with the times...now that the video is done. Tonight I am letting the moment sink in. Tonight I am not doing school work. Tonight, I am letting the emotions find their seat.

Because, in a blink of an eye....it will all be over.