Will the WHOLE WORLD Just be QUIET!?!

My family has transitioned back to our busy time. Justin is back in his credential program, so he doesn't get home until 8 or 9 nine every night. My graduate courses are intensifying. And we have a birthday coming up every weekend in February.

I'm already exhausted and I haven't done anything yet.

Feeling rather raw around the edges the other day, I started to think about the causes of my energy drain. I think I figured it out:

I always have to know all the answers.

Now, I know many parents feel this way, so I'm not trying to say I have it worse than others. I'm just happy that I have maybe figured out a problem in my day-to-day life.

So, here, in question format, is a description of my Wednesday:

Morning: I wake up with cats meowing for food. Then, Justin starts in--"Where's my belt?" "Where's my black pants?" Then, Emerson--"I want breakfast. Where's breakfast?" "Where's my puppy?" "I don't want to wear THAT jacket. Where's my Dora jacket?"

Drive to Work: We had the NPR fund drive this week. Not to sound evil, but it really gets grating. "Why can't you donate?" "Don't you enjoy all we do?" Yes, I do. I already donated. Then Em starts in--"Mommy, I want a song." "Not THAT song?" "Where's Daddy." I gave in and turned to music, but I ended up feeling frazzled.

The real fun begins--Morning Meetings: I met with my boss and she hit me with "What are you doing to include all members of your team?" "Why do you use whiteboards THAT way? Why not use them this way?" "Why does English 10 not have a grammar unit and assessment yet?" Then, I had a meeting with other teachers: "Why do we have to teach poetry?" "What's the point of teaching rhyme?" "What are we going to do next?"

And then my "real" job starts"--I cannot possibly list all of the questions 180 teenagers can level at a person, but here are the highlights. "What are we doing?" "Why are we writing?" "Do you have a pencil?" "Do we have to do this?" "When do we get out of here?" "Can you help me?" The important thing to point out is that all these questions are happening simultaneously.

Evening: Then I have class with my superintendent who asks things like "Where do you see educational technology going in the next 20 years?" "What is the biggest problem facing teachers now?" "How are you going to close the achievement gap?"

Thank God that I got home in time to watch Lost. While it has it's own questions, I'm not actually responsible for answering any of them, which is a rare and beautiful thing.