3 weeks done, 10 weeks left 'til Thanksgiving!

My third and first full week of teaching has just ended. At first, I was impressed by my well-behaved 10th graders. But they caught onto how relaxed & easygoing I am, & in this third week they have taken advantage of my patience and flexibility. I stayed at work until 5:30pm yesterday (Friday) because I had some problem students to take care of. Disciplining students is a tiring and arduous process of progressive steps that start with warnings, detention, calls home, talks with administrators, and meetings with parents. Next week, I have meetings with parents.

Freshly frustrated on a Friday afternoon, & having to contend with Friday traffic, I came home flustered. I shared with Robby a sudden epiphany I had that afternoon: I don't deal with conflict well at all. I rarely encountered conflict in my family or my social circles, so I had never practiced dealing with inter-personal conflict. Now, after so many years of teaching, I understand why I've never been very good at dealing with conflict efficaciously and intelligently. I am usually driven by emotion when I argue with a student. I don't stop to think rationally & thoughtfully. I show my emotions too easily & react too quickly.

So next week, I will try to curb my emotions and deal with my few naughty students with as little expression as possible. I wrote a little note to remind myself of this new discovery, and I am eager to try again. My students need consistency, and I need to be consistently strict with them so that I can serve my purpose (teach) instead of dealing with the few annoying students who seem to take up most of my already spent energy.

As for Atticus, he is eager to be mobile. He loves to sit up, but he can't move around yet. He will sometimes lunge forward onto his belly, but all he can do from there is roll onto his back.

He completed his 6-month shots, & Robby said he was a trooper.

Atticus has also started to blow raspberries full of spit. Yesterday, while I was feeding him dinner, he began spitting it out in all directions. I hope this doesn't become a habit.

Yesterday was Robby & my 5th-year, first-date anniversary. We had a wonderful meal of masala dosas, saag, and rice. The weather is getting chilly, & Robby is always reluctant to take Atticus out on walks.

Here are some recent pictures of the boy. He is now 4 days short of 7 months old.