Update and Therapeutic Thursday

I swear, I totally forgot how the first week of school actually felt. I'm writing it down now, so it doesn't catch me off guard next year. The first week is horrendous, horrible, horrifying and hair-raising! At the same time it's stimulating and energizing and heart warming! I am falling in love with each of my kiddos and I'm happy to say I've got a pretty good bunch. That's not to say we're not without our behavioral problems (sticking paper into outlets is not following procedure!) but they love listening to stories and ask for multiple readings of the same books (quickest way to my heart) and they are genuinely nice kiddos - the issues that we have will soon be worked out with further exposure to consistent rules/procedures I'm sure.

Kindergarten interviewed an aide today, so it looks like I will be staying in 1st grade this year. I am considering changing the blog name to either just "Herding Kats" or "Herding Kats in Primary". What do you think? I am looking forward to this weekend so I can get firmly settled in my first grade curriculum! I will also get those classroom pics finally!

I realized yesterday that I have also been remiss in not offering a freebie lately, so look for one tomorrow! Not sure what it will be yet, but I promise I will have something :) It will probably be K/1st appropriate because I do have some sweeties who definitely shouldn't be in first yet - not sure how they got passed on since I don't have their files yet, but oh my word most of them are low! I guess that's good since we will show lots of growth this year!

I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' today for Therapeutic Thursday. I'm supposed to share what I do to unwind after a stressful day. I have to tell you, I'm actually really bad at this! Part of it is because my 4 kiddos come back to my room after school each day and that's when I deal with homework, listen to stories and try to get them to a) keep it down and b) help me clean up for the next day. Once we get home there's still dinner to figure out, clothes and dishes to wash etc. After that it's baths and bedtimes! Once they're all in bed though, is where the unwinding part comes in!

First up, a nice hot cup of Chai Tea! I am not a big tea drinker (my mother used to make us drink a cup of Earl Grey after school each day - she steeped it extra long too so it was very bitter) but I make an exception for chai! It is so mellow and smooth, I can feel the tension seep from my shoulders with each sip!

Next up, trashy romance novels! Love them! Especially paranormal or Victorian settings.Here are some of my favorite authors:

Finally, a nice hot bath (with the tea and book of course!). One of my teaching buddies works at Bath & Body and alerts us to sales, so I usually have some lovely scented bath wash to use. My favorite scents are anything with vanilla:

I know, there's nothing earth shattering about my stress relief ideas, but they're simple and inexpensive so they work for me! Head over to Blog Hoppin' if you want to read more!