Ouch! Looks painful and itchy. I'd go to the doctor. Do you have any gluten issues? Celiac can cause a rash like that.

Omg! I'm a crazy fangirl of Scrub Daddies. And look what else you can buy... https://smileshop.scrubdaddy.com/product-category/scrub-daddy-merchandise/ Look at the Halloween costumes... 😂

We lived in Boulder, CO for six years without a car. They have a really good bus system that goes all over town, plus we were fine with biking when we didn't want to take the bus. It's a really bike-aware community, and they have lots of dedicated paved bike paths through town (not just along the side of the road, although there's that, too). It was amazing. I miss the bike paths so much! Where I live now, I could live without a car but my day to day travel would be really limited. I'd need to work in town, too, which I currently don't. It would be really tough.

Ew! I've never heard of that. Do kids in your area hesitate to play in the snow because there might be snow fleas??

In public school, I'm seeing so many kids with organizational issues. First grade isn't too young to have kids do things like put their worksheets away in correct folders, put books away in a specific place on a shelf, etc. I'd make sure to do those things daily, and you can bump it up as he gets older and has more stuff to manage. It would also be cool to teach him to use a simple checklist, and that could translate to using checklists in the future, and also using a planner to keep organized.

Ugh, that's horrible. It really throws off your sense of self.

Yeah! We could create a great meal, and then you would talk and I would prompt you and write down what you say 🙂

Agreed! I still live with some things my mom shared with me as a kid when she was going through a divorce, and even though I know she needed someone to talk to, it's stuff I still think about to this day and I'm sure has impacted my relationship with DH. I'm glad your mom feels comfortable talking to you. I hope it's not too much for you, though.

I think it's the word impacting the larger world, at least I hope so. I really want to just finish everything on the work to-do list and start fresh and see if that helps. Unfortunately, I don't now how to find the time to do that. New things keep getting added so the less-urgent things on the list stay there for a long time. My principal has offered to get me a sub so I can do paperwork, so I should take him up on that.

Hmm, this is really making me think I should get checked out just to be on the safe side. Thank you for sharing your experience.

I would also like to tackle things topically. One thing that really gets to me is my to-do list which has a lot of really different things on it that require me to switch gears really quickly. About talking and identifying things that cause anxiety... well, I'm getting some relief from talking with you and others here, so thank you. I do feel relief talking with a few teacher friends that feel similarly to me, although sometimes it's just a downward spiral with all of us venting but not really making anything better.

It's possible... I'm 40 and my mom said she went into menopause early. I do have a doctor that I like. I've only seen her a few times but she seems thoughtful and helpful.

Hi everyone. If you read my post from earlier in the week, I have a coworker at school who is giving me a hard time. However, over the past few weeks/few months I have also started to feel anxious about going to work in general. I dread driving there, don't enjoy teaching the kids like I used to, dread sitting in meetings, don't feel like interacting with anyone at work, and feel totally stressed by the thought of calling parents to arrange conferences, doing the paperwork, and mundane things like entering grades into the gradebook. I've never had anxiety in the past, so this is new for me. Is this anxiety? I feel on edge and nervous almost all of the time, even when I'm not at work. I think about work almost all the time (mostly about how much I don't want to think about it!). I also feel somewhat stupid because the level of nervousness I feel seems way out of proportion with what's actually going on. In comparison with a lot of schools, my school functions well. The kids are pretty well behaved. I have supportive coworkers and admin. Yes, paperwork and keeping up with things is stressful, but my workload isn't outrageous like lots of people's is. It would be manageable if I could make myself deal with it for a short time every day so it doesn't build up, but I get so overwhelmed thinking about it I put it off, and it's a bad cycle. Overall though, it just doesn't make sense that I should feel so nervous all the time. I'm also starting to get anxious about every "obligation," even things that I don't mind doing or even enjoy, like planning meals, ordering something from Amazon, or taking a load of stuff to Goodwill. It feels like every single thing I need to do is taking away time from... what exactly? If this started as workplace-related anxiety, will this new generalized anxiety go away if I'm not at work? Just a question... I don't actually want to quit. But I am hoping that this is not the new normal, whether or not I have this job. Just now I had to cancel coffee with a friend because I got anxious, my chest felt tight, and I was nauseous. Now typing from bed, where I'm now feeling better. I need some ways to deal with this anxiety. I don't want to take medication for anxiety that's caused by a job - in that case, it seems like it would be better to quit the job rather than medicate my way through it. That would seriously change a lot of things for the worse, financially and professionally. Thanks for reading.

Oh my. I hadn't considered allowing him to get enraged (with me) while in the presence of a student. He'll probably say, "Student, do YOU think I'm yelling?" But... good ideas!! Much to think about.

Wow! Totally normal. The other person, on the other hand... wow. They must be upset about everything all the time, if that's all it takes to get them riled up!

I can do that when it's just me or with adults, but what should I say to cut him off when he's doing that to a student? I guess, in private, I need to tell him to not ever involve me in conversations with a student if he's going to raise his voice.

I make really good sandwiches and salads 🙂 I can write quickly and don't spend time agonizing over how to word things. I'm a type B personality so I don't usually sweat the small stuff. This can be good and bad depending on the situation. I'm an optimist!

Well, that's one reason why I'm not ready to condemn him fully... perhaps he doesn't understand how he comes across. It SEEMS like he does, and like he uses his tone/volume on purpose, but maybe not.

Thank you, I love how you phrased this.

Oh, and the kicker is, after he went on and on to the last kid, he said, "You know I'm here to help you, right? You need to come talk to me when you don't understand assignments so I can clear things up for you." Uhhhh.... NO! There is absolutely NO WAY any of the students are going to him for help because they're all terrified of getting yelled at (their words). The A+, quiet, sit-in-their-seats-with-no-problems kids can, because they never get reamed out, but my ADHD students with other LDs are never, ever going to do that.

Thank you for asking! It's school vacation so I'm trying to think of what to say. **Please don't quote, I should probably delete this later** I don't care what he says when it's just me, or when he has a complaint that he airs in a staff meeting. I just explain the reasoning behind whatever it is and move on. An example of something that really ticks him off is when I schedule meetings on Friday afternoons. He's complained about that in a private conversation with just me, in an email to me AND everyone on the team AND the principal, and AGAIN in the hallway with another teacher present. The third time it happened I just said, "Gee, I heard you the FIRST TWO TIMES!" The other coworker laughed. I mean, really... it's so minor and dumb. Nobody wants to meet on Fridays which is why Fridays are available for meeting! I'm not a magical wizard that can convene the 8 people required BY LAW on the specific day HE prefers. The thing I object to most is when he comes to my room (or asks me to step out in the hall with him and a student), then lays into the student, going on and on about whatever the kid supposedly did wrong (didn't turn in homework, told their parent it was done but it wasn't, etc). I'm always standing there, unprepared, and it must seem to the student as if I'm okay with what's going on. I'm usually in agreement about what the kid did, but the approach is totally inappropriate. The last time it happened I tried to head him off, but he said, "Not now, Mrs. Kanin!" I'm doubting myself, though, after someone here asked if he was actually yelling or just a guy that has a loud voice. He has a loud voice, and isn't yelling, but even I feel intimidated by it. However... I might be particularly sensitive to raising voices - I've been told that. When kids cry when he leaves the room, and I'm left with them crying, it's not right.... right? I don't want to teach middle schoolers that "some people are just like that" and they have to let it go. A student did tell me that that teacher doesn't respect me and treats me like one of the students. Ouch! I went to the principal and offered to talk to this guy for me. I said I'd rather talk to him on my own first. I'm drawing a blank on what to do, though. I should probably prepare for a variety of responses but honestly I feel major anxiety when I even think about planning for this. Ugh. I don't know if anyone has asked him to soften his tone before. All of the people I could ask about the history are bound to talk about it with other people, so I don't want to even bring it up. **Please don't quote**

No advice, but I'm like this too, and I usually wake up feeling exhausted from whatever happened in the dream.

I have a lot of thoughts about this matter, and I'm not sure if any of them are a "but." I think they're "ands" because I'm thinking all of them at the same time. - It's really sweet of the bus driver to help that kid. AND - It's unfortunate that dress-up days make some kids feel left out and sad. AND - Dress-up days are a lot of fun for some people AND - Dress-up days are no fun for a some people AND - I personally enjoyed some dress-up days at our spirit week last week (Western day was surprisingly fun, also 60s day because I could wear my Beatles t-shirt, and sports day because it's the one day a year I can wear a hat), but some were not fun and I felt left out, even as an adult (example, twin day). AND - I'm not sure if I'd eliminate spirit week because it does bring joy to many students. As someone else posted, every "special" day has the potential to make someone feel left out. I'd just keep the amount of days reasonable, unlike Terabith's district!

Wow! That's an excessive number of dress-up days. Thankfully my school doesn't do this, but don't forget the many schools were kids can buy carnations for Valentine's day, or candy-grams, or whatever that also make other kids feel left out when they don't get one.

She's so cute!! My kitty likes to eat black beans! All beans, actually, but black beans are his fav. He won't eat cheese or anything dairy. Cats are awesome!