First Fridays

Today was the first Friday that was really a Friday...you know, the kind of day that you long for all week, and it has a celebratory nature when it finally arrives. First Friday means a concert at the Frick Mansion, where we picnicked with a gaggle of babies and their accompanying parents. Kai is walking. Niam is crawling. Teddy is looking cuter than ever. And Laurel took delight in the whole scene and kept trying to steal somebody's sandwich. We barely noticed the music, but that was hardly the point. The telling comment of the night was "we'll never get them all in one photo again."

My first week of high school reminded me a lot of well, my first week of high school. Why anyone thinks it's a good idea to wake teenagers at the crack of dawn and gather them in large numbers in windowless buildings is a mystery to me. And why we require them to get up and move in great mobs through the building every 40 minutes is an even greater mystery. But I digress.

So far, this job is the best job I've ever had, which says loads more about previously held jobs than this one. They were so compliant. They follow directions. They abide by social norms. I witnessed no fights, was not threatened, and none of my property was destroyed.

Of course, they can also be a tad sassy, a bit chatty, and question absolutely everything you do. But that's the charm of teenagers, after all. We're still feeling each other out. What I love about school is the time apart. You get them for 40 minutes and then have a whole day to sort out what you learned about each other, or maybe a whole weekend.

I have a feeling that I will really look forward to Fridays from now on, even as much as a I enjoy the rest of the week.