What Time Is It?

March 13, 2026Family, Slice of Life, Travelonathought

This slice is part of the March Slice of Life Challenge on Two Writing Teachers! #sol26. I’m slicing every day in March. Thanks for stopping by!

I am not what you would call
great
at what I call
calendar math.
I mean, I can teach it well.
Don’t worry about that.

But ask me how many days or hours until something and I’ll do some,
what some people have called,
crazy math.

“Well, 1:15 to 2:15, 2:15 to 3:15, 3:15 to 4:15…” I’ll say as I hold up my fingers. Knowing full well that I could also do 4-1.
I just really want to feel the cycle of that hour, I guess. It needs the X to X verbal cue and a little circle gesture.

It has taken me months to remember that when my daughter talks to her boyfriend in Japan, he’s saying good morning and she’s saying goodnight. We wake up on Saturday but I can find out if his team won their Saturday night game. What!?!

One time I made a joke asking if he could time a flight to Japan so that he could celebrate his birthday twice. My kids rolled their eyes at me, but he said, “Actually that happened once when I was a kid…”

I think it’s like magic, to be honest.

So when it’s time to change the clocks?
Not my favorite.
Not because I have to change many actual clocks anymore… but it’s just so mind bending to me.
For days I’ll say things like “Well, it would really be 8, but it’s 9, but it feels the 8, right?”

So imagine how I felt when I realized that our road trip to Florida was going to have us cross time zones just hours before the clocks changed.

As we drove closer and closer to our destination, I kept watching the clock on my phone, waiting for it to jump.
Finally it did. But it was so confusing.

What was 4:00 became 3:00, but in just a few hours that 3:00 would become 4:00 again, which would feel regular, but back home it would be … 5:00? Wait. Is there a diagram for this?

And what about those calls to Japan? It had been a 14 hour time difference, but then it became a 15 hour time difference for just a bit, then it went back to 14 hours. But back home, after the time change, I think it’s 13 hours?

“15 hours!” My daughter said it was the longest time difference they had had so far.

My son said, Well once you go past a 12 hour time difference, it sounds like it’s a bigger difference but it’s really a smaller difference because it’s getting closer to 24 hours which is no big deal because then you are just like a day different, but the time is pretty close. Like who cares if it’s Monday here and Tuesday there if it’s 8:00 am in one place, and 7:00 am in the other?

I tried to understand, I did. But I decided that if I am going to understand that, it won’t be after 10 hours in the car.

Once we unpacked, as we were trying to decide on timings and schedules, someone asked about the time change again.

“You gotta spring back!” I said, and my kids looked at me disappointedly. As they should have.

They yelled at me.

“Mom! You spring FORWARD! Maybe you shouldn’t be in charge of our schedule.”

And that’s what long road trips do to my already calendar-confused brain.

This Is The Dog That We Love

March 12, 2026Family, Pets, Slice of Life, Travelonathought

This the dog that we love.

This is the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the birthday bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is my family
That listened to me talk about the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

These are some of the people we love
That helped my family
That listened to me talk about the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the dog
That loves these people that we love
That helped my family
That listened to me talk about the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is my prayer
That I’m sending the dog
That loves these people that we love
That helped my family
That listened to me talk about the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

I’m Driving.

March 11, 2026Family, Slice of Life, Travelonathought

I am driving. And I am writing in my head because what else can you do when it is dark and all the kids are sleeping?

So I am writing.

And skipping from song to song on my shuffled playlist, wondering why there are no good songs.

And I am lying to myself at every exit sign… telling myself I’ll just wait for a good place to stop and make a hotel reservation, and maybe write this for real.

Finally after an hour and a half I think to myself, “The next exit with a few choices that I can see, I will stop there!”

And a minute later, I see the Sheetz sign.

And even though we are still like 8 hours from home, I feel like we are close.

The kids wake up, and we buy weird late night sandwiches. Then we go between groggy silence and ridiculous conversation as I make a hotel reservation, and write this.

“Are you okay?” My daughter asks me?

“Yea. I’m just writing my slice,” I say, because in March… in March I have my priorities.

I mean, hours ago I made my daughter take a picture of the truck in front of us because it said TWT and I felt it was a reminder to write and post…on Two Writing Teachers!

We Are At the Beach.

March 10, 2026Family, Pets, Slice of Life, Travelonathought

We are at the beach.
We are busying ourselves here at the beach.
Trying hard to think only positive thoughts about our Finn.
Watched a funny movie all snuggled in my bed last night.
Worked out this morning, then the pool.
In between we sat in the sun of the rental’s backyard.
I told the kids to pretend for a minute that they believe in intention setting and energy.
We sat and just thought about Finn.
We imagined ourselves next to him in his doggy hospital bed.
We imagined seeing him healthy in a few days, wagging his tail like nothing had happened.
I can’t speak for the kids, but I imagined petting his soft soft ears.
And I told him very lovingly but sternly that the people he is with are taking care of him. He might not be having fun but he needs to do everything they tell him to do, and then we will see him soon.
After he gets better, he can run around and play with his best friend.
His best friend’s person visited him today.
He wagged his tail so hard his bandage flung across the room.
She snuggled him and pet his soft, soft ears.
She told him that the people he is with are taking care of him. She told him he can come play as soon as he’s all better.
We spent the last few hours on the sand.
The kids took a walk.
I read.
I gazed at the turquoise water.
I told the little birds that landed next to me to please send some prayers to Finn.
We are at the beach.
I kept repeating it to myself.
We are at the beach.
We are at the beach.

1200 miles away

March 9, 2026Pets, Slice of Lifeonathought

It was a great beach day.

Sun, sand, reading, relaxing.

Gosh I love being on vacation with my amazing kids.

But now we are 1200 miles away.

And the dog is at the emergency vet.

1200 miles is a lot of miles when the vet says scary things and your dog is going to be there for 48 hours. Because he ate all his medication. All of it. Way over the dangerous dose.

It was a great beach day.

Oh, Did That Embarrass You?

March 8, 2026Family, Slice of Lifeonathought

I’ve been made fun of for a lot of things in my life.
This isn’t a sob story – I mean, obviously it has made me who I am today. Character and all that.

But, it is probably the reason why when my kids make fun of me …

I don’t really care.

I mean, so what if I talk to strangers when we are out?

Even the ones who are in the golf cart behind me as I try to figure out what I’m supposed to do if the parking lot ahead of me is full, and I don’t really know where to go in our golf cart at the moment.

“Sorry!” I yelled from my golf cart to theirs.

“It’s my first time! Here and in one of these things! And I’m not sure where to go next!

They yelled back to me, assuring me they were in the same boat (or cart, I guess) as me.

It felt like a friendly interaction, but boy oh boy were the kids annoyed. One of them claims that my speaking to strangers is damaging to them.

I think maybe since they don’t get made fun of as much as I did as a kid, I owe some embarrassment to them to help build their character…

I am glad they had already gone down to the beach though, when I was finally parking. I thought there was a spot, but it was a handicap spot. Just as I was figuring out how to turn the golf cart around, a man walked by and said, “I’m about to take my cart out of this spot if you are looking for a spot!”

And what did I say? Nothing crazy. It was a perfectly normal response.

I said, “Oh my god. I love you. Thank you.”

He was fine with it, laughed and said “You’re welcome.”

But the kids? they would have been devastated to hear me proclaim my love to the stranger who gave me his parking spot. It might have ruined this vacation I’ve taken them on.

Toodles!

March 7, 2026Reflections on teaching, Slice of Lifeonathought

My amazing teammate has the perfect, “Toodles!”

She uses it at the perfect times.

I’m trying to adopt it as a catchphrase myself. Here’s what I’m learning about “Toodles!”

When there are kids who just showed you a dance they made up at recess and you loved to watch. But then they are just standing there staring at you.

That’s when you say, “Thanks for sharing that friends! Toodles!”

When you see a student out in the real world and you’ve had the whole conversation, you are actually so happy to see them. But then they are just standing there staring at you.

That’s when you say, “So good to see you! Toodles!”

Or when it’s time for morning meeting to start and you are in the hall with the few stragglers, trying to get them to finish up and head in to start the day.

That’s when you say, “I’m going in for morning meeting. See you in a minute! Toodles!”

Help me out, friends. When else can I practice my new favorite catchphrase?

Toodles!

Opposite Day

March 6, 2026Reflections on teaching, Slice of Lifeonathought

Yesterday was Opposite Day in second grade.
Luckily it was short lived.

It started with kids calling me my student teacher’s name, my student teacher was called my name. Then it progressed. Lunch one was lunch two, lunch two was lunch one. Chairs that were still up were down, chairs that were down, were, you guessed it, up.

“It’s Opposite Day!” kids announced to those just coming in.

And so it rolled.

I was worried, to be honest. I was sick and I didn’t think I had the patience for a whole day of Opposite Day.

“It’s Opposite Day!” Someone exclaimed to me.

“I’m so excited.” I said.

She smiled. I don’t think she understood that my “excitement” was my one and only contribution to Opposite Day.

Luckily, the opposites quieted down by morning meeting, and I forgot about it until just now. Phew.

Drum Roll

March 5, 2026Reflections on teaching, Slice of Lifeonathought

Today we got to something some of my students have been waiting for, hoping for, begging for.
They drum-rolled as I went to switch the slide.
They cheered as the new slide appeared.
It was finally time to learn…

The cursive capital G.

It’s always nice to be able to make them so happy.

We started how we always start a new cursive letter, “pencils up in the air!”

I took them step by step. “Start at the bottom. Curve up to the top. Loop around to the left and swing up to the right. Pull down to the bottom and swing left to cross. Swing up to the right.”

“This is hard!” Someone complained.
“No it’s not, it’s easy,” someone else said.

My student teacher reminded them that things can be easy for one person and hard for another. She asked them to be encouraging.

I moved on to the next letter we were learning. My student teacher complimented my ability to read the formation directions while drawing the letter.

I thanked her for her kind words and added, “It actually is tricky sometimes!”

“No it’s not” that same someone else said again.
“She wasn’t talking to you,” another student said.

I looked at the clock.

We started practicing the lower case w. One of the students said something about it that I couldn’t hear. I asked 3 times for her to repeat herself, when my para told me. “She said it looks like an outline of a bum.”

“Oh.” I’m annoyed at myself for trying so hard to understand what she was saying.

“Well, it’s just a w. It looks like a w, and that’s what it is. That’s all.”

In the back of my head I remembered how a few days ago my student teacher said she admired my patience, and I laugh to myself as we finish up cursive and head to lunch.

Those Kids, That Moment

March 4, 2026Reflections on teaching, Slice of Lifeonathought

You know those kids in your class that have such a hard time with
(you can fill in the blank — )
listening, keeping their hands to themselves,
not interrupting, staying on the rug, staying on their chairs. . .
you know those kids
they have good moments and hard moments
good days and hard days
good weeks and hard weeks

I want to know the form of
poetry
to adequately express the moment
during a hard week
when you walk by their after school program and one of
those very kids
runs up to you
arms open wide
smiling from ear to ear
proclaiming
“Hello!”
as they hug you
and your papers and bags almost fall to the ground
because
that moment is the sweet hope of teaching,
I think.