I am so exhausted! We had meet the teacher night tonight and I spent the better part of the day preparing for meeting the parents. It is such a hard thing to do. Parents want me to tell them how their child is doing after just a couple of weeks of knowing the child. I met a few parents that I really wanted to know about. I met the little boy's parents who said they were sending him back to foster care. I had a very hard time holding in my disgust with them. However, I did not get to meet the parents of one little girl we are concerned about. Today, this little one came to school saying that her step-dad had choked her around the neck and thrown her up against the wall. Luckily our principal was with us when she made the statement and took the little girl down to the counselor. CPS was called and was investigating before lunch time. The mom called the school, came up and yelled at the little girl and called her a liar. Then went home and dealt with cps some more. We had to send the child HOME today and she was scared to go. I just pray she is okay. I really hoped that something good would happen today for her. If she is not at school tomorrow, we have to report that to the office immediately.

This has been one of the most trying beginnings of a year that I have had in a while. The normal stressors have been there, but the things dealing with our kids has been harder. We have had several kids with major issues in the last week. I have one little boy who is being tossed back and forth between parents. He had to give up his home and school and dad to move into a home with 4 other children and a step dad as well as move to a new school. He also lost his grandmother in May before he was uprooted to this new place. He had a total melt down at the end of last week. Then we have the little one.....I do mean little one....whose parents want to send him back to foster care over a scratch on their car. We have the little girl whose step-dad choked her before sending her to school. today. We also had one with major anger issues who bowed up in my face, the bus duty teacher's face, the breakfast duty teacher's face, and the principal's face before being escorted home by the police. He has now moved to another school. I am shocked over all the craziness going on. I know these are the times that shape the future of these children. I just can't imagine my girls ever having to live the lives of these babies I teach. It is hard for me to be too tough on them with all the issues they seem to have.

One bright spot in the day was when one of my former co-teachers showed up at the school tonight. She left Kaufman to have her girls in private school in Ennis. She teaches there now but plans to return to us as soon as the girls are out of high school.....2 more years. She was one of the ones that kept the peace when things went crazy at school. Just her manner made you know everything was okay. I heard her voice in the hallway before I ever saw her. I was working at my desk and had to go see if it was my imagination playing tricks on me or not. I got to my classroom door and there she was. She looked great and she had the girls with her. They are twins and so grown up. I could even still tell them apart. They called me Mama FArmer when they were little because they were like my own and their mom was another mom to my girls as well. I think it has been atleast 2 years since I have seen them. The weird thing was that I had been thinking about them just this week. Even today I had thought of Lisa and then she was there!

I feel like lately that this computer is the only thing I get to talk to and that is because it is available at all hours of the night when my friends are not. I feel that I am working so much and the only time I have to visit with people is at church or the activities my girls are involved in. I haven't even talked on the phone to Angie in weeks. I just don't have time. Every minute is consumed with something. I don't know how to make others understand. I just don't have free time. When I am at home, my mind is so tired I can't carry on a decent conversation to save my life. I call the trash the sink, my shoes....a purse and tell the girls to get in the microwave to take a bath. I am telling you....MY BRAIN IS TIRED! Mike just laughs at me and says it is time for me to go to bed. Even while I type I transpose and confuse words. I only do these goofy things when I am exhausted. I just hate how it seems that I forget my friends. I really don't. I just don't get past the demands of the day to the point of just visiting. I also believe that I am all talked out by the time I leave school. I think there is a limit on the amount of conversations you can have in a day. I think I will go on to bed now and maybe tomorrow I can connect with some of my friends. Hopefully.......