There are some days when I could care less if I never saw another middle school student again.

Today is one of those days.

It seems like right before a big holiday or vacation, the students go crazy. Plus, my patience is limited because I'm just as worn out and ready for a break as they are. How do I manage them and not pull out my hair? How do I control them, be firm in disciplining them, and not humiliate or dishonor them? Some days, I find that my tolerance well is about dried up. I get so frustrated with myself because I feel as if I'm inconsistent with what I do and don't allow. One day, a little chatting doesn't bug me at all. The next day, it is enough to get someone a detention.

I can tell I'm stressed by end-of-year projects because lately I've been mixing up all the wrong words. I look at a student and say the name of someone else. I mean to say "experience" and I say "extrovert." Random words popping out instead of what's supposed to. I feel like some of my wiring is coming loose. Maybe it's from all the intense sound waves that are generated by all the seventh graders in the world, shaking the brain around in my skull.

My dilemma is this: our play has a cast of 25--too many for me to handle all by myself. But next year, if I go with a smaller, more manageable cast, we lose audience members. And audience members (and their tickets) are the only means we have at this point of raising money to pay for things like our sets, our microphones, and our props. I can't get a helper--everyone is taken, and no parents are willing to volunteer. After rehearsals like today's, I just feel tempted to throw in the towel and say, "Enough!" But I really want the students to have an opportunity to experience drama and the thrill of putting on a show. However, I'm stretched so thin at my job right now, that I feel like when my time is wasted (as it was today at rehearsal), there's so much other stuff that's just as important that I could be working on.

Okay.
I think I'm done venting.