Doodles

I was at a team meeting today (since it is the first one of the year, we discussed students' various home life issues----who DOESN'T have divorced parents in this day and age?) and needed a sheet of paper to jot something down. There was a freshly discarded sheet of paper lying diagonally at the top of the recycling bin. I grabbed it, jot down my notes, and didn't bother to look on the other side of the paper.

Once I went back to my classroom, I, out of curiosity, turned the paper over. There was hearts quickly doodled in purple ink. There was also a name written repeatedly with the first name's first letter, followed by a period and a last name. This is the kind of thing I recall doing in middle school, so I relate. I wrote "Mrs. Michelle Price" over and over. I had had a crush on Jesse since about third grade. By middle school, my crush on him had lasted longer than some of my current friends' relationships with adults.

The doodles that I found today did not strike me as odd. I work at a middle school and can understand the whimsical, romantic visions that come into young girls' minds.

This paper was exceptional though.

It was written by my co-worker!!

I know it is totally a female thing to write your name, either with a signature that includes an intended male partner's last name replacing your own or simply just your own signature. I know I had signed my name repeatedly "for fun" within the past few years.

I am not dumb enough to leave the paper freely accessible at my job.

Hilarious,

Martyrdom

Facebook---where people either post a little bit or where people post every single fucking facet of their lives.

Tonight, someone posted a picture of herself, intently staring at her MacBook, while her six month old infant reclined across her lap. She gave the photo a hashtag of "workingmother." That image brought a few questions to my mind. 1] Someone other than she obviously took the photo. Instead of having hubby take photos of you, why don't you have hubby take the baby off your lap and just get your work done? 2] Why do people feel compelled to post photos or comments and seek martyrdom status? There's tons of single mothers out there who probably don't even have time to pop onto Facebook. You don't see them posting photos of themselves doing five domestic tasks simultaneously. If you want to/have to be a working mother, that's fine. Women, in droves, have been doing it since the 70s; lots of women probably were doing it before then. There's no need to post your photos and seek praise. We all have our battles.

If we're going for martyrdom pictures, I should really post a picture of third-grade Michelle @ Halloween. My mother was drunk off her ass and I had to figure out my costumer for myself. I had a sparkly, green pseudo-Afro wig. I also had access to my mother's closet of 1960s clothing, all of which did not fit her anymore. I wore a fringy leather vest and, along with green Afro wig and bright face paint, was a clown. I should post that photo and hashtag it "fuckedupchildhoodbutendedupok." I don't know how the hell to hashtag something and I don't care to learn anyway.