Valentine's in the 5th grade...

It's kind of a weird holiday as it is, but especially in elementary. Especially in 5th grade, when boys' and girls' hormones are starting to kick in. They tried to warn me. I thought, "Surely, it can't be THAT bad." But sure enough, the veteran teachers were correct. Valentine's Day parties in the 5th grade really can be THAT bad. The whole day was pretty chaotic actually. Now, I'm not griping... it was a humorous and random day.

For starters, Deion Branch of the Seattle Seahawks, came to my classroom today! I didn't even know who he was, but he was someone important and the principal brought him to my room. Eek. He was checking out the school for his son... I think. Teachers were whispering, kids were pointing (poor guy) and I was clueless. Then... the high school does this fundraiser. Send a balloon with a message. You know the drill. Unlimited, they said. I never counted, but I think we had close to 120 balloons (not lying) in my room. I could barely see my kids.

Well, that's nothing. Enter parents and candy, fun and games, and our party is off to a great start. And then. It happened. The fire alarm? What! It can't be a drill! Who knows? But.. I'm a teacher, the fire alarm is going off and I'm supposed to get 21 kids (parents and siblings) downstairs and to the parking lot. Pronto. Step into the hall and it's mass chaos. Parents. Siblings. Children. Screaming. Laughing. Screeching alarms. Popping balloons. Pandemonium. There are about 6 classes going down the hall at one time. Outside, parents had all parked in the fire lane and administration was hopping.. Rumor has it that high schoolers set off the alarm as a senior prank... or something blew up in the Chemistry lab or it was just dust on the alarm.. or something. Who knows? Who cares? As far as I could tell, nothing was burning and it was like 2 degrees below zero with snow falling. (I'm actually getting used to that.) Well.. after I finally found my kids (a miracle in and of itself) and they were freezing and flirting (Valentine's after all) we waited. Kids were mad their party was interrupted. Fire trucks were mad they couldn't get through all the parents' parked cars. Cold 1st graders (who has time to get a coat when there's a "fire"), flirty 5th graders, kids pumped with sugar, balloons floating in the air.. it was a mess. Ha! I still love teaching, and I do love my husband, but I'm not sure if Valentine's Day is worth all that. My room mom was awesome and helped a ton. It wasn't actually the disaster I'm making it out to be... but I'll never forget this day as far as teaching memories are concerned.

If you are going into education, brace yourself for V-Day...