One of those days...

I don't know about y'all, but lately I've been feeling a LOT like this...

I was at home cleaning up one day and I found Mali doing this. And he really and truly was sitting JUST LIKE THIS!! This was not a transition from one pose to another. He was just all slumped over in my armchair like "Whew! I've had a rough day! Can somebody get me some Coca-Cola and some crunchies??"

I've had a tough few weeks with my school starting back and with Christopher getting back into the swing of clinical and school. I am SO frustrated with my job right now and I don't want to be!!! We've been back in school for 3 weeks and I just can't seem to get my work done when I'm at school, so I end up having to bring stuff home, which always stinks. I try unbelievably hard to please everyone and you just can't seem to make some of these parents happy about ANYTHING. Maybe it's because I don't have any kids yet, but I don't think it's unrealistic for a parent to realize that I am ONE NURSE and I have 800 students and 100 employees at my school. Can I really be expected to treat every single person like they are my #1 priority on a daily basis? Is that even humanly possible?

And why don't kids pay attention to what they're doing? How can you miss seeing a mobile unit or a fence outside and literally RUN SMACK INTO IT when you're playing soccer at recess?? Also, why don't they understand that when you eat spaghetti at lunch and drink milk, then go outside at recess and run around like a maniac in 95 degree weather that it will PROBABLY make your stomach hurt. And when it does, I think I know what will make it feel better...go POOP!!!! :) And when you come see me and I give that suggestion, I'm not asking you if you want to...I'm TELLING you that this is what you need to do.

And why is it that everyday when I'm walking out of my office with my lunchbox and my drink to FINALLY get a break (which is a scheduled time that the teachers are aware of, I might add), a teacher brings a student to me and says, "Oh, are you about to go to lunch? Well, would you mind looking at this one thing?" To which I would like to respond, did you look at your watch before you came? And if you noticed this when the child got to school this morning, why are you waiting until now to say something?? This one thing typically involves calling a parent that has at least 2 disconnected phone numbers and having to leave a message that is never returned. By that time, 15 minutes of my lunch is gone and kids are seeing that the light in my office is on and they keep on coming. Thanks a lot teacher. I hope you get to eat your lunch. :) Here, have mine! I'm not gonna need it!!!

Then, when the bell at the end of the day finally rings, it never fails. A child vomits in the hallway outside of my door. And instead of completing the mountain of documentation for the 30 visits, 10+ medications, and 2 tube feedings that I've done that day, I have to track down his/her mother and let them know that the child missed the bus and wait for 45 minutes until she can make it over to school.

That's okay, though. Because the daily documentation is the least of the school nurse's paperwork worries. DHEC makes sure that there is not one moment that you are bored when you're at school. I thought care plans were done when I graduated from nursing school, but I was incorrect. And don't worry about sending your kids to school if their immunizations are not correct...there's a school nurse there with whom the great pleasure lies of reviewing 800 individual immunization records to make sure that they are complete and good to be attending school. But don't worry, she'll send you a letter if you're not up-to-date. :) And then next month, be sure to look out for a referral for medical/dental/vision/hearing attention just in case your child is one of the 800 children that she screens this fall that needs glasses or dental work. And what? You don't have insurance or Medicaid and can't pay for these things? Well, don't you worry about that either!! Your school nurse can help you fill out some paperwork (in Spanish, too!) and get you connected with some organizations that will pick your child up from school, take them to the eye doctor, then deliver your glasses 2 weeks later. Don't worry though, you don't need to thank her for working so hard to help you and going to all that trouble. I'm sure she knows you're thankful, even when you don't ever say it.

But I'm not bitter. :) Poor Christopher had to listen to how horrible my day was over the cell phone my whole drive home from school on Friday. And of course, he reminded me that I didn't have to put up with it if I didn't want to. That's the good thing about nursing...there's ALWAYS another job out there. And most of them would probably be making more money than I do at my current one!!

But I know that deep down, I don't want to leave or quit doing this. I'm just so overwhelmed and frustrated right now. I was thinking about that this morning and I remembered taking this picture...

One of the neatest things about this summer was that we had a LOT of hummingbirds! Christopher's mom gave us a feeder and we put it up before summer vacation and like 2 days after we put it up, I counted 15 visits in one afternoon! Christopher and I would just sit there and watch the birds play with each other and buzz down and get some juice. I read on the internet that sometimes, it takes 2 or 3 seasons for the hummingbirds to find your feeder. And even then, they won't always feed...if there are too many flowers around, they'll stick to the flowers. And if there aren't enough flowers, they'll find somewhere else to go. I found out, too, that the juice/nectar is just to get energy so that they can fly and find insects to eat. I always thought they just lived off of nectar!! And they usually stop coming in August, because as the days get shorter, something changes in them hormonally to let them know that it's time to migrate. We've noticed that there aren't quite as many at our feeder anymore, but we still have a few stop by everyday.

God is SUCH a genius. I mean, those birds don't know what day it is or what month! But God takes care of them in such a neat way and lets them know when it's time to find warmer weather. They're not worried about not getting their work done!! And I know He takes care of me...it's foolish for me not to realize that and for it not to be the first thing that pops in my head when I wake up in the morning...I am God's and today, He's going to take care of me, just like He did yesterday!!! So there's no reason to be anxious about today...so what if I don't get my paperwork done at 3:30 today (or 4:00 or 4:30 for that matter). If it can wait until tomorrow, it'll still be sitting there when I get to work.

Philippians 4:6 (The Message)
"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. "