The first day rambling...

Wow!  I finished my first day with students as a dean.  I promised myself I would write about it so I could look back a year from now and remember the excitement, anxiety, craziness and exhaustion.  Because I woke up at 4:15 AM, left at 5:20 AM and was riding a bus by 6:10 AM, I am exhausted.  This may be short, I may ramble, and it may have typos.  There's an excuse, I worked for 13.5 hours, ate only a doughnut all day and wore heals!  Here's a run down of the day:

Just what we needed to start the day!

We made it!  My amazing team after our morning bus ride!

• The drive was worse than I anticipated, why did we have to have heavy rain on the first day of school? I forgot my boots,umbrella and had frizzy hair!
• The bus ride went smoothly - we took two runs, picked up over 60 kids, didn't get yelled at and everyone was safe.  Although, the bus was hot and my hair frizzed even more!
• We practiced procedures and I had everyone's attention.  I went over bathroom expectations and taught kiddos how to tuck in their shirts. 
• By 9:30 AM I had my first student in my office - a kindergartener who was being defiant.  After he stopped crying, I heard "Miss Bakery" - how can I not smile?  We called his mom and he went back to class with a simple apology to his teacher ("I'm sorry.  I will try to do my very best!")
• Ahhh...at 10:00 AM, I had a doughnut.  The Service Center employees brought them.  It's been years since I've had a doughnut, but that was the best chocolate covered doughnut with cream filling I've ever had!
• Other than the the kid who got kicked in the head, recess was my highlight.  When the kids asked me to push them on the swings, I looked around and thought "I'm an administrator!  I get to do this every day.  These moments need to be my highlight!"
• Lunch was a little chaotic - I opened trays, went over hallway expectations, and everyone ate, except me!
• We started organizing for our busing - WOW!
• I had a visit at the assembly from my same friend from the morning.  We had to have a replay of "I will try to do my very best." And then with another reminder, I heard "were you spying on me?" Yes, I was - that's my job!
• In a chaotic fashion, the kids all got on the buses.  Most arriving over an hour late, they were safe with their parents.  We learned that you can't make everyone happy.  You should never let parents change their child's busing for the same day. And sometimes no matter how hard you try, you'll never please anyone.  If you want your kid to ride in air conditioning, you should drive him yourself.
• My bus was the first one back.  I'd call that a success - I'm just hoping that the name of the bus driver that I've been calling "Mr. Steve" all day really is Steve. . . 
• My team is amazing - we all looked at each other, laughed and made a better plan for tomorrow.  Even if things didn't go as smooth as we'd like, we made it and everyone was safe

I learned that nothing should surprise me as an administrator - When you turn your head, a middle school boy may retaliate a grab a girl's boobs.  Some kids may say "You aren't the boss of me!" and you can say "Yes, I am!"  You may hear, "I am going to sue you." and you just have to be okay with it!

Did I say I was tired? I am, but I am ready to do it all over again tomorrow morning with a smile on my face, without heals, and a grab and go lunch!  I'd call the first day a success!