Chicken or Egg?

It was my intention to come home today and start uploading photos of wonderful art projects, recipes for savory snack ideas, and educational philosophies broken down into compelling and easy-to-follow nuggets of wisdom. But it wasn't that kind of a day. Not even a little bit.

To be fair, we actually do have a wonderful art project going (yarn owls), we did cook a great snack (homemade pasta sauce using our own homegrown tomatoes- yay!), and when a group went up on the nature trail and worked together to build a fort, I handily referred to it as am "U'macha," (the traditional home of the Coastal Miwok) which tied in nicely to our walking field trip to the Petaluma Historical Museum planned for tomorrow.

But you don't get to hear about any of that. Because the cloud that hung over everything that went on today is that I was in a terrible, horrible, no-good, I-found-myself-standing-with-one-hand-on-my-hip-wagging-a finger-at-a-student-and-actually-saying-the-words-"I-am-VERY-disappointed-in-you-we-do-not-give-wedgies-in-my-classroom"-in-a-clipped-voice-while-glaring-menacingly BAD MOOD. And I don't think it was all my fault. But it did bring out the worst in me, which I believe then brought out the worst in my kids. But they started it! :) Which brings me to the only philosophical question I can wrap my head around right now: Which comes first: the cranky-ass teacher or the pain-in-the-rear students??

We've all had those days (right?? Please tell me that we all have those days?). But why?? I like to think that I'm so consistent and calm that it had NOTHING to do with fact that my usual second-in-command was out sick and we had a series of other wonderful- but different- teachers fill in (but of course it did). I KNOW it had something to do with the fact that I was so hell-bent on getting the pasta sauce put together and the owls cut and tied that I sort of FORGOT TO EAT. But what I wish I knew better was how to find the mental space to pause, regroup, and start being the educator I want to be.

What do you do? What are your triggers? How do you pull yourself together? And do you ever manage to pull it off- successfully transforming from Miss Viola Swamp back into Mary Poppins- without the children looking reproachfully at you with that "I know you're full of baloney" look in their eyes?? Or worse- gulp- with tears in their eyes, and then it turns out the reason they are giving atomic wedgies is that they failed to eat their lunch and you failed to double check before they left the table?

I know that Child Mind-er doesn't have any followers yet but the me of today is asking the you of whenever you stumble upon this post to please commiserate... help to remind me that, at the very least, I can be superwoman again tomorrow.