I was talking to my neighbor the other day, and wondered how it is that I can stay calm as a substitute teacher, but staying calm as a parent is a much greater challenge!  In a room full of 26 middle schoolers I seem to keep things under control but my three children can make me lose it in no time at all.  We laughed, and I said it’s probably because I’m not allowed to snap in the classroom.

Well wouldn’t you know, I felt convicted from that conversation.  It turns out I AM capable of keeping my cool, I just apparently choose the when and where.  Sigh…

There are obviously things that happen at home that don’t happen in a classroom, but I am also able to deal with things in a classroom that don’t happen at home.

SO…

I have decided to make an extra effort to keep my cool at home, and try doing the things I do at school to accomplish that.  My children deserve the best of me, not what’s left at 4:00.  That is hard to do AND hard to hear.

I’ve come a long way, but that doesn’t mean I have arrived.

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