The Life of a Conflicted Teacher

I’m pretty sure I’ve used this title before, but it is what it is.

Sometimes, it’s the little things that make or break your day.

Yesterday was a giant crap storm of yuck with a shining star inside.

We sent one of our favorite Brown Swiss heifers off for the last time. She’ll be sold Saturday in Wisconsin, and because of our daughter’s honor band, we won’t be able to see her sold. She’s been with us two years, and she’s one of the most even tempered animals we’ve ever had. Very little of Brown Swiss stubbornness, just a lot of love. We’ll miss her with her big brown eyes, her familiar call saying “I’m hungry”, and that look of “are we going on another adventure” when we’d get the trailer hooked up. It was hard to drive off and leave her at a neighbor’s farm to be trucked up to the sale barn today.

Our daughter has a mishap with our truck, leaving a nice dent along the passenger side. I worry so much about her and her ability to keep her emotions in check, and this does very little to alleviate those worries. Much of what we say goes in one ear and out the other as “we don’t understand teenagers and what we go through.”

#sigh

She’s remorseful right now, but in a week, it will go back to normal, whatever that is.

Between those two things and the likelihood my basketball shoes walked out of my classroom by themselves (my feet ache right now), I was (am) pretty down with things.

However, I found out two of my last year’s players got varsity uniforms for their basketball team. When I found this out, I quick sent them an email, just congratuating them it’s a pretty big deal for freshmen.

Their responses:

Thanks! I’m so excited!!!!!!!!!!! You’ve had a huge impact on me as a player and a person!! Thanks for everything!

Couldn’t have done it without you. Last year helped me improve in everything. Thanks for everything you’ve done for me. I’m super pumped. Good luck on your season!