Car wreck PTSD

So a month ago, the boys and I were in a wreck... not my fault...It totaled my car.

I have lived through many traumatic things in my life... However, I can't seem to shake this one.

Maybe it's because I'm still in pain from it.
Maybe it's because I HAVE to continue to drive on a daily basis.

Whatever it is... I am suffering major PTSD from it.

I pull over if someone is following too close behind me because I'm afraid they will hit me.
I jump if someone I am riding with pulls out into traffic even if the cars aren't that close.
I still won't take that road home that I got hit on.

Yesterday, I knew without a doubt I had been traumatized...

We went to Incredible Pizza where they have 4D movies.  We did the Jurassic Park one.  Unbeknownst to me, it is basically a car wreck where the dinosaurs wreck your car over and over and over again...

I walked away with fingernail indentations in my hands from gripping on so tight, a nauseous stomach, and a splitting headache.

Then last night I woke up from a nightmare where I was riding in a car with a friend and because she was crying so hard she didn't see the car in front of us, so I braced myself as we rammed into the car in front of us causing me to throw my hands forward and brace myself on the dashboard.

Then I woke up.

Not mine

Another year is starting.

Tonight was open house...
This night used to be filled with anxiety and excitement... LOTS and lots of excitement... because it meant I was meeting a whole new group of smiling student faces and I knew they were mine.

I saw lots of smiling faces at open house tonight.  I got to stand at the front door and greet as everyone came in and say good-byes as they all left.

...But it wasn't the same.

Even though I again will have every student in the building, none of them are mine.  I'm not sure I will ever get over this part of it.

It especially made it worse when former students of mine came back (because of younger siblings) and gave me hugs...

... because they all know that once they are mine they are always mine.

A dark cloud looms

You see me, I smile.
These days it is probably forced, but I still smile.
I do it so you don't know.
You know me as the happy-go-lucky one. The one who sees the silver lining on every dark cloud.
But right now...
Right now that dark cloud is engulfing me... Taking over my whole being.
I'm snippy.
I complain.
I'm downright in a generally sour mood pretty much all the time.
This isn't me.
I joke.
I laugh.
I enjoy a good time.
I don't like myself like this...
So I smile.

Inside though, I hurt.
I see my friends doing things without me and I hurt,
I know I have been off the grid for a while doing my masters... But "they" say if they are your true friends, they will wait for you.
"They" are wrong.
Here I am, done with my masters, and still no invite.
And it hurts.

And that dark cloud feels like it is growing because of the hurt...
And my silver lining is falling in the form of tears.
The smile is fading...

At least we didn't die

I have a VERY vivid imagination.
I always have.
I think that's why I don't watch scary movies... because later I recreate those scenarios in my brain.
I haven't watched a scary movie in a long time, but last night I felt like I was living one.

Let me set the scene...

Todd and I went to a friend's wedding up north.
He got married in a big little town...  It seemed quaint but had all the amenities of a city, but seemed like a town.
All of their hotels got horrible reviews.  The hotel we picked had 3 out of 5 stars.  Most people knocked them down for their breakfast.  We weren't planning on eating breakfast there, so I decided to book it.

When we got to the front desk, the clerk seemed distracted and a little at the end of her rope.  When the printer flashed it was out of paper, she said, "I really don't care if I have a copy of your driver's license. Just don't smoke in the room, okay?"

She handed me my copy of the reciept.  It said we were in 208A.  She scribbled out the "A" and said, "Ummm... Don't worry about the A. It's just 208." I thought that this must be a suite or something, but didn't question further.

We headed up the outside stairs to our door, 208.
I slid the key, the light would flash green, yet I couldn't get the door open.
I did this three times.
No luck.
Finally, Todd decided to try.
He put all of his body weight against the door and it came open.

The room was dark with the exception of the light from the tv screen.
It was playing a black and white movie.
(I'm pretty sure I said, "That's weird.")
I didn't like it.
It gave me a bad feeling.
I then switched on the light switch.
Nothing.
No light.
I started to back out the door.
I told Todd that something was not right here... that we weren't staying.
He trudged forward.
He turned on the lamp at the far side of the room and looked behind the door of the bathroom.
Nothing.
He told me to come in and close the door.
I still wasn't convinced it was safe.
I turned on my flashlight on my phone and looked under the beds.
Then we heard something outside, I went to the peephole.
Someone had stuffed toilet paper into the hole so you couldn't look out.
I thought for sure we were going to die!!
By now my brain was reeling with scenarios.
I started looking and relooking behind the doors and under the bed.
Then I remembered the "A"...
The room was NOT a suite!!  Why would they number it 208A if it was NOT a suite??!!
This sent me into more of a tailspin.

Luckily, I have a calm boyfriend who knows how my crazy brain works.
He jokingly says, "Well, if we don't wake up dead, we know it was all in your head."

We didn't wake up dead (I know that doesn't make sense - In other words, we're still here...)
Maybe this is how movie writers become so creative... Maybe they stay in weird hotels too with rooms like 208A.

The point of too far gone and not nearly there

You know that point where you are so tired that you know you have stuff to get done, but instead you do nonsensical things that seem productive, but really truly aren't and are most DEF not getting you any closer to the goal you are hoping to achieve???

Yep.

That's where I'm at.

Been up since 5 am.
Put in a full day at summer school.
Went shopping for supplies with the summer school team after summer school.
Picked up Sam and took him to practice.
Got home at 7pm.
Have been doing nonsense for 2 hours while my niece's cake sits on the counter waiting to be decorated.
And yet, here I am blogging.

 And this hour and a half decorate job I think is going to take several hours.

...I should have taken a nap...

Better than a box of chocolates

It's Teacher Appreciation week.

This week when you are a normal classroom teacher is filled with gifts and surprises...
But this year, that's not me... I'm a "specials' teacher... and I have come to realize how often they are left out of the loop.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not here to complain about not getting gifts... Quite the opposite.

You see... During times like this, when I am feeling a bit invisible... all it takes is just one child.

My little friend who has been checking in with me all year, that I have been forcing to change out of her stinky clothes into clean ones on a daily basis, so I can wash hers, so she can gain confidence about herself...  She arrived at my door today with a letter to me.

The letter said how I was the best teacher in the district because I listened to her and cared about her and that she knew she could tell me anything and it would still be okay.  It was a page long... a whole page from a child who struggles to write a few sentences for an assignment.

It made me cry!!
A box of chocolates has never done that...

Darn responsible kids

The boys and I have been running ragged for quite some time now...  Honestly, it has become our norm.  It's what we're used to. What we expect.

However, there have been little cracks lately. Like Sam telling me for the past 3 weeks that he doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning or go to school because he's so tired. This is my child who LOVES school!

In fact, just this morning, he complained and complained and refused to get out of bed until 10 minutes before we had to leave... Which, of course, then made everything frantic to try to get out the door on time.

So... Tomorrow I don't have school.  I decided to do something I have never done.  I decided that we were going to sleep in and the boys were going to be tardy... Just because.

I almost didn't tell the boys, but then the teacher in me kicked in and I had to make sure they weren't going to be missing any important tests or anything...

And that's when it happened.

Sam complained......and complained... and wouldn't stop complaining. I would make him miss PE...  Even though he was having a sub, what if his teacher left something important... He would have SO much work to make up!!!

And I lost it.

I just couldn't believe he was complaining over the ONE thing he had been asking for EVERY morning for the last three weeks.

And as my brain was exploding... telling him "Fine. Fine. I will get up early but that I didn't want to hear him complain about being woken up early especially when we had stayed up late." (9:30. lol Late for them)...I caught myself.

I realized that I was actually proud.
Proud that I was dangling the carrot and my son still chose the right path (Honestly, not the path *I* wanted tomorrow morning - it's my day off.  I wanted to sleep!)  But still...

This was an easy decision.  This was a why would we be doing anything else? decision...  Because that's how I raised them.

Doesn't change the fact that I wanted to sleep in. *sigh* Here's to responsible kids *glass raised*