Teacher summer
is like nesting
for me
It’s okay if it’s different
for you
I love getting ready
for school
organizing, planning . . .
and also
wow
it’s a lot
sometimes
it feels impossible to hope
it will all get done
Like seriously, how?
My 37 boxes, 3 shelves and ottoman – work ordered to my new classroom but still waiting at my old one – have been weighing on my mind. I can’t focus, or rest, without getting my new space settled.
I wondered if I had done the work order correctly.
One of the custodians told me a thriller of a story about the year someone’s things didn’t get delivered until the day before in service.
How can you organize all the things in your classroom without
all the things in your classroom?
“We’ll just take the truck and get it ourselves,” my friend Kris said last week.
And I feel like I would need
1,000 slices of life to explain how many times Kris has done this –
had a solution
shown up
So yesterday, we texted a plan to meet at school today at 9:30. Kris, her husband, his truck and me.
Our friend Krista chimed in, “I’ll meet you there.”
And I would not be exaggerating to say
I had no words
but I did actually cry a bit
because
friends —
Friends
do you have friends who say
“I’ll meet you there?”
I hope you do.
When I got to school at 9:25 this morning, I saw a big truck, crept around to look inside and saw half of my stuff loaded on.
My work order worked!
Timing,
right?
We pivoted – it’s a thing.
My friends met me at my new classroom, the truck delivered all my things, Kris’ husband left to go golf, and we got to work.
We moved some shelves.
We moved them again.
We moved them again.
“How do people do this when they don’t have friends who are teachers?” I asked.
We unpacked 37 boxes, organized, reorganized.
I held things up and said, “Tell me I can throw this away.”
They said “Throw it away.”
I want to tell you about the cabinets that are too deep but also too small to hold all the supplies I need them to hold. I want you to picture the bins I took out of several of those 37 boxes. Bins of pipe cleaners and paint, buttons, small wooden cubes, wooden characters, beads, special tape, play doh.
I need you to understand that some people might laugh at me if I pulled out another bag of stick-on googly eyes, or asked where I should store the stick-on ladybugs.
“Do they go with the googly eyes?” (We decided yes.)
There are many good people out there who would get mad if after we thought the cabinet was done with the bins finally fit together like a perfect Tetris, I found another wooden stick person. But not Kris and Krista. They just said, “Oh! I know exactly where that bin is now!”
This is what I’m talking about
friends!
It was a hot day today.
A summer break day today.
I don’t want to sound dramatic but
My friends gave me hope today.
On a Thought 
I love / hate organizing – I spend time just thinking where I want things to go. And then I move them around until I feel they are right. It is satisfying and irritating. I wish I could have helped but it sounds like you had just the right people with you!
You do have some wonderful teacher friends.
Oh, Ona! Hooray for friends, and especially hooray for getting it done today. Now you can relax. I’m so glad the work order went through, and that they actually did the heavy lifting. Imagine if they had showed up right after you had loaded and unloaded the whole truck yourselves. This: “1,000 slices of life to explain how many times Kris has done this” shows how special this friend is. And Krista too! You are blessed with good friends!
This took me back to my days of organizing my classroom (and breaking it down at the end of the year). Oh, how wonderful it is to have help from other grown-ups! My parents, husband, in-laws, and even a few friends would help me.
Bless Kris and her husband!
I remember so many friends who showed up to help over the years. It’s so helpful to have someone say, “Yes, toss it.” I’m glad you’re settled in your new space so you can focus on resting now. It’s recharge time and it takes awhile, so enjoy the process.