They will be fine...

In 8 days (counting today) I will be leaving my kids.  (That is provided I have the baby by the 26th)

Leaving my kids for the rest of the year. 

Deep breath...

I knew this was coming 9 months ago.

I knew I would be handing the education of my 7th and 8th graders to someone else.  And I knew I was not going to like it. 

You see, I love my job.  I love teaching and I work hard at it (as do all other teachers I know).  The thought of trying to explain to a sub each one of the kids' personalities, how I handle every single little decision that crosses my mind, how the lesson plans are supposed to go, how I modify or adapt to the unexpected on the fly, how to run the technology, how we handle fire drills, and many many other things that go on day to day in the life of a teacher.  It was all a bit overwhelming in August.

I expressed my concerns to some of my fellow colleagues...they all said not to worry everything would be fine.

"But it's a STATE ASSESSMENT YEAR!"

They will be fine.

But...

They will be fine.

Now we are here.

Days away from handing my kids over to someone else.

And to be honest...I'm ok. 

I have found probably the BEST sub I could to trust with the care of my kids.  She will be wonderful!  She will adapt if something isn't working, she will care for my kids, and at the same time won't take any of their crap! 

I am starting to feel a little more organized.  Desk is cleaned out, lesson plans are ready, and room is not a complete disaster. 

The closer and closer I get to "D-Day" the more and more excited I get for the baby, and the less and less I care about what happens with my sub at school. 

I do care...just less than I thought I would back in August.

And you know what.

They will be fine.