Off to College

Oldie, but a goodie

Tomorrow I'm back to school, but as an instructor. I landed an adjunct professor job, and am overjoyed. I've been practicing this week because I want to do a good job. This afternoon, as I was reading my power point presentation to my kids who were running around in a whirlwind, I noticed George disappeared, and shortly after, I heard sloshing water. I flipped the lap top shut, and found him with his head over the toilet, the top of his hair wet and hanging over the bowl.
He has never done anything this repulsive yet, but he certainly knows how to get my attention because I spent the rest of the day doting on them with undivided attention. Which was his intention, since he smiled right when he saw my face of disgust followed by yelps of bad behavior, and tossing him in the bath.
I'm excited to go back to the workforce, and as I'm reminded by everyone, it's going to be hard to juggle everything, but it will be worth it. Just like when I was 18, I am excited for all the new things coming my way, and life lessons I'll learn.
When I first left home and went to college after high school, there were a couple things completely foreign to me. Born-again Christians, for example. Never heard of them before I went to college, and I went to mass every Sunday my entire life. The posters up for bible study and recruitment around campus was overwhelming, but I figured their relentlessness was perhaps due to missing church for close to two decades.
Second, I heard someone mention a sport called "water polo." If you've never heard of it, then I was just like you. What was this bizarre sport people spoke of? I imagined it to be a fantastical show of people riding horses in a gigantic swimming pool, pushing a beach ball along the water's surface with mallets. What a let down. I still don't know what the hell it is, but I do know it does not involve horses.
Tonight I read Kiki Dr. Suess's Oh, The Places You'll Go. She was more concerned with the bizarre creatures drawn than the text. Every creature she asks with a tinge of fear, "What is that?" I don't know, they all look like dragon/bear/elephant/lizard/horse/duck mash-ups, so I just shrugged and read on. This book is INSPIRATION gift wrapped. My little sister got in the habit of giving this book to people for any occasion, and after she'd have a couple wines, she'd get up on a chair, and read it to the entire party. So, aside from it flaring up my gusto, it really warms my heart because it makes me think of my sister out there making the world a better place.
After we put George to bed, we started reading more. Kiki picked out a book of fairytales. She has her instructions for everything, so I listen up. First she wants to read Golidlocks and The Three Bears, but we need to stop reading before the bears come back home. It is funny to watch the tension build up in her, and at the point where Goldilocks heads upstairs to test out the bears' beds, Kiki was sitting straight up, her eyes open, and she shouted, "OK, thats enough!"
Then we read Little Red Riding Hood, but I had to stop before Red meets the wolf. We ended on Cinderella, a story I was able to read to the conclusion, probably because no one is eaten alive.

I'm continuing my life education through another form tomorrow, and I have loads of lessons from fairytales to help me on my way. I'll move mountains as Suess says, and hopefully, not get eaten alive, in which case, I can just shut the book and walk away. How's that for gusto.