Spring Break

It's spring break now. People always ask, what are you doing for spring break? I guess they're thinking, wow--just like those college students, you go to Palm Springs and have a week-long drinking binge that you won't remember except for embarrassing photos posted on Facebook. Hey guys, I'm a teacher, not a college student changing partying venues just for the week.

So what am I doing for spring break? Well, after three months of intensity in the classroom, "doing" is the last thing on my mind. Usually on any extended break, I spend the first three or four days recovering from the aftermath of school. If it's summer, then it takes at least a whole week. Often whatever illnesses I have pushed aside catch up with me. I sit around staring at the ceiling. I try to put together complete sentences. I watch a lot of classic television--M*A*S*H is particularly good because I know all of the episodes by heart anyway. My synapses slow down to a crawl as I try to remember how to pronounce my name. When I can operate heavy machinery like a car, I know the recovery period is over.

And then, maybe, I will entertain the idea of "doing" something. The first thing I usually do is the laundry, and then I pay the bills that I've forgotten to pay because teaching really does kill my brain cells. I scrub the toilet. Wash the dishes. These things make me feel accomplished.

Spring break has the peculiar double feature of being time to finish taxes. Scrape together what few brain cells remain to get this job done because in this case, I am reporting to a much higher power than Hawkeye and Trapper. As soon as taxes are done, it's time to go back to school and the mad dash toward the end of the year.

And what about summer? Rinse and repeat.