Why I Do This Job

This year has been very frustrating so far.  We have a lot of new policies in place, and a lot of new requirements of our time and resources.  Every year you want to get started and get into a routine so that the kids, as well as yourself, can get comfortable.  So far, there is no routine because all of us teachers are running around like chickens with our heads cut off.  If this has been a frustrating year, then yesterday was an even more frustrating day.  I was feeling very overwhelmed with all of the new things I'm supposed to be (and have had no time for) doing, and was grouchy all day.  During naptime, I noticed one of my kids was not on his mat, but sleeping partly on the floor.  When I went to lift him back to his mat I could feel that he had wet himself while he was sleeping.  This was a perfect ending to what had already been a bad day.  I had to wake him up, and this is one of my younger boys who still needs help getting dressed and undressed, so I had to help him do all of this.  While he was trying to step into his shorts, he had his hands on my shoulders for balance, which meant our heads were close together.  At the same instant, we turned our heads and ended up bumping heads with each other.  It was a pretty solid whack, and he winced pretty good so I could tell it hurt him, but his first reaction was to place his hand on my head where we had bumped and give me a rub so that I could feel better.  It's kind of funny how when you're having a bad day of teaching, a lot of times you get a good reminder of why you put up with so much to do what you do.