Advice

As the school year comes to a close, please learn a lesson from me that I've learned myself this year. DO NOT volunteer to be a pencil sharpener for your child's class. At the beginning of the year you are all excited and want to be helpful and on meet the teacher night you sign up for all kinds of ways that you would like to help the classroom. As the year goes on and you are asked to do things, you begin to think, why are they asking me to do this? Then you remember that fog of excitement you were in and volunteered your life away to your child's class.

I have been a pencil sharpener for Maddi's class this year. It is the WORST job out there! I should have bought an electric pencil sharpener but I am too stubborn/stupid. Every month Maddi brings home a bag of pencils that need sharpening. The first month they were all brand new never been sharpened and it was grueling to hand sharpen each pencil. I put it off and put it off until I realized the bag of pencils was due back at school the next day. It was late at night and sure I could have gone to 24 hour Walmart to get an electric sharpener, but no...I didn't want to change out of my pjs to go to Walmart when I really just wanted to go to bed. I sucked it up and got them all sharp.

So forget the pain for my hands of sharpening by hand. The WORST part of ALL are the creepy kid germs all over the pencils. Think of first graders....they pick their nose, sneeze on their hands, probably don't wash hands after using the bathroom or eating...you get the point. Then those precious little hands are all over the pencils. Not to mention the pencil eating kids. My hands are now touching the pencils these little angels were EATING! At least the first bag was brand new, germ free. This last bag had a whole years worth of first grade funk.

For the life of me I can't figure out why this teacher lets kids share pencils. These kids are missing out on life. Don't you remember when you were a kid and we had those pencil sharpeners attached to the walls that you could crank over and over and over. If you were bored and wanted out of your seat you could just go hang out at the pencil sharpener for a while. If a whole bunch of kids wanted to sharpen their pencils you could have social hour waiting your turn to sharpen instead of doing your work. (Am I the only one who has fond memories of the old school pencil sharpener? Maybe that's why I volunteered for this job.) If my friend was sharpening their pencil then all of a sudden, OOPS my lead would break and I would have to sharpen my pencil and talk to my friend while she sharpened hers.

This photo shows the fruits of my efforts tonight. I know it doesn't look so bad, but there were A LOT of pencils. I am 3 days late returning the bag that was sent home to me over a week ago! Please oh, please let these pencils last for the remaining two weeks of school. I think I might cry if I have to do it again. Anyway, just take my advice when school starts again in the fall.....DO NOT VOLUNTEER TO BE A PENCIL SHARPENER!