Friday, February 13, 2009

Bad attitude or bad attitude for good reason?

Holidays are a wonderful thing...
Columbus Day gives me the chance to teach the kids about Native Americans and who really "discovered" America.
I LOVE Halloween-dressing up in costumes rocks. I LOVE seeing all of my friends dress their children up and see my nephews in their costumes. My personal favorite this year was a teacher friend whose daughter was a pirate. I still have the Happy Halloween card they made.
Thanksgiving is awesome because we get to tell what we are thankful for and eat turkey.
Christmas is amazing and we get to celebrate the birth of our savior. Watching people open gifts, spending quality time together with Bill, and family time is great.
New Year's Eve is always a fun time
St. Patrick's Day rocks my world. Shamrocks, leprechauns, and pots of gold are totally fun.
President's Day is also a great history lesson.
Easter is always wonderful and a reminder of life's purpose.
Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, and of course Labor Day are all fun as well.

I love almost all holidays... except Valentine's Day. I absolutely hate Valentine's Day. As a teacher this is not a good thing. I have tried very hard to find a "like" or a "not hate so much" feeling about this red holiday. This year I even decorated an entire wall and wore red socks at school. I had a cutesy little valentine blog background and purchased a Valentine book for my nephews. I was trying to put mind over matter the best that I could.

Let's review past Valentine's Days to see why I hate it so much...
I do not remember any Valentine's Days until 2nd grade. That is where the curse began.
2nd grade-We were having a PJ fun day. I told my teacher I did not feel good, she did not believe me. Then I threw up on my valentine box, desk, and PJ's. Rest of the next three days were spent at home with the bubonic plague. (or so I thought)
5th grade-I got sick and passed out in the hallway. I ended up with a big bruise on my shoulder and a trip home. I am pretty sure the holiday made me faint.
7th grade-I was home with strep throat and did not go to school that week
9th grade-My super cool boyfriend dumped me the day of the valentine's dance, it would not have worked out anyway;) I ended up not dancing to that good old Bryan Adams song. Bummer.
11th grade-My boyfriend (Bill) forgot it was Valentine's Day. He was in college and did not even call me, woo was me. To a 17 year old girl that was the end of life as I knew it. Looking back, not a big deal.

There were many more V-days like these mentioned above involving broken bones, falling on the ice, driving into a snow bank, and various other experiences.
My all time favorite was subbing for Mrs. Nelson and having kids spontaneously vomit or have life altering diarrhea throughout the day. We think it was the candy hearts they had in the morning for an art activity. I ended the day with seven or nine children, I can not remember anymore.
I actually decided to run away to Arkansas the next year so that I could pretend V-day did not exists. I honestly thought that maybe they did not celebrate this volatile holiday in Arkansas. Luckily Bill did not make me do anything and allowed me to pretend it was just a regular day. That was the one V-day that did not end in disaster.
I made it through my day today, somehow! There were moments I was questioning my decision to wake up this morning, but I made it. I knew going into it my team teachers would not be there today but I had to go on! I am now sitting at home in bed waiting for the roof to collapse or something to happen. The hives that are covering most of my body are definitely not the worst that will happen today. I am pretty sure they are from the strange candy I ate from one of my students but I am not sure. I know it is not the actual day until tomorrow but today was the day we celebrated in school and today has been quite the day. We will see what tomorrow brings. Let's pray for a non-disaster, my hives clear up, and that I make it through the day without an accident.
St. Patrick's Day can not come fast enough!!

3 comments:

Mandi said...

I love Valentine's Day ~ mostly cuz of the chocolate....but I have to say that your bad attitude is for a good reason because you are leading your own boycott of Hallmark and American Greetings. It's a very good first step in taking over the world.

bethany said...

Oh no! I laughed so hard about throwing up in your Valentine box. That would sure taint one's view of this holiday. Hope you guys have a good (uneventful) one!

Unknown said...

Oh Dana You're so funny! I'm sorry to hear about your Valentine's History. I'll be sure never to make a big deal of it in front of you, and I promise never to be absent from that day of school again. :) The pirates mommy!