Parent/Teacher Conferences

This week is a marathon, and I'm barely out of the starting gate. Today's stretch of race is culminating in parent/teacher conferences. Right now I'm sitting at my table, in the vast expanse of our cafetorium, waiting for my next... customer? victim? It's hard to know how to label it all.

The Tuesday of 3rd quarter conferences is in the cafetorium, with everybody all together. It's loud, and I usually have a line waiting to see me. It's not super busy tonight, but the spring is never as well-attended as the fall. On Thursday, we'll have a soup supper (we're trying to raise money for hanging microphones for our stage), so the cafetorium will be used for eating. We'll meet with parents in our classrooms. I never minded that before this year because I had a room with a folding divider wall. The teacher next door and I would always keep the wall open a little so we could chat in the down time. Now that I'm in a different room, it might not be as much fun. We'll see.

Really, the last 2-3 years are the first that I've felt comfortable with the whole parent/teacher conference thing. It's awkward being in your twenties, telling parents about their own children. I know one side of them, and I'm a pretty good judge of character, but how kids are at school is not always how they are at home. I am finally to the point where I feel I can be totally honest with parents and don't have to word things carefully or sugar coat issues. Plus, I'm finally getting to the point where I'm closer to the parents' ages. Though it's disturbing to really think that I could have an adolescent child, age really helps a lot. I feel like the parents take me more seriously now. Maybe it's all in my head.

Our conferences last from 5:00 until 8:30, and in the fall, I didn't move out of my chair until after 8:00. Talk about having bleacher butt! I can tell that the crowd is thinner tonight, so hopefully I'll still have some circulation left by the end of the evening.

Remember my Diet Mt. Dew post? Ever since I heard that research, I've been craving Diet Mt. Dew even more. I should try to go cold turkey after the play is over. I know all those chemicals aren't good for me, but I think chemicals are the only things that are going to get me through these next few weeks. I'm drinking Diet Mt. Dew #4 today. That's so ridiculous, and somewhat embarrassing to admit. I think I might need a 12 step program. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right?

Hi, my name is Tena. I'm a Diet Dew-aholic.