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Ordinarily I am the mom that prays for a “wind day” when the call from Dare County Schools comes across my phone to announce that they cannot, in good conscience, send the tiny children on the school buses with high coastal winds. I hear my phone and recognize the number right away while pouring myself a glass of something bubbly and listening to the recorded voice on the other side. When the call ends I get to break the news to my teenager who is already asking me if his best friend can stay the night before I even finish telling him why school is canceled. I get to tell my kindergartener that we get a bonus day together and she almost always slumps her shoulders because she is obsessed with her school and her sweet teachers. Don’t even get me started on holiday breaks! I am usually counting down the days until the kids have their holiday break because I love having a house filled with kids and plenty of time to make more memories with my family. I love the slow down before the hustle of the holidays. The kids and I all manage to get a healthy combination of rest and fun and plenty of time to explore the empty beaches. Penny even asks to play "school" when we are at the beach and pretends to be the teacher by writing assignments for me in the sand. Holiday break is seriously my favorite time of year!
However, this break has been a little different. Blame the full moon or the excess sugar that pesky old Santa brought but my children may have all lost their marbles over the last week. I have never had a countdown to the day that they go back to school before this year, but the day has officially come! So today, I’d like to take a moment to salute our local teachers. I’d like to send a virtual high-five to the unbelievable humans that do the important job of child molding and educating while rarely getting enough credit. I’d like to raise a glass to the teacher who has handled the teenage banter from 8:00am to 3:15pm. Let’s air-hug the teacher who has assisted in tiny meltdowns, big problems and lost homework sagas. Hats off to the teachers who lovingly handle the case of the missing lunch box and flip-flops on P.E. day. While our holiday break has officially come to an end I know that I am incredibly grateful for time with our children around the holidays, despite the crazy moments! To all of our local teachers, thank you! Today you pick up where you left off and I can't imagine the first day back to school is easy. I am starting off 2019 with a grateful heart for all of our Dare County School teachers and staff. Thank you for the incredible job that you all do!
