Q&A: You want a new… whistle. The kids think it’s fun to grab it with their sticky fingers to see the shiny silver-colored brass whistle with its cork ball inside. Really the only item on my shopping list is more tights with leg pockets so I can carry my phone at work.

when your neighbor has a tree

Got to the gym late to work on back and shoulders and stopped when my arms got tired. I rewarded myself at home with an English muffin — part of an apple with garam masala peanut butter on half and egg, parsley, and brie on the other.

I got to color in a bar graph at work in an attempt to motivate teachers to get their kids signed up in ClassDojo. The American Heart Association supplies a chart that we will start using next week for the fundraising, and I will do another graph for Box Tops.

I made two kids cry today, but both times it led to progress. I’ve gotten two kids to pull their first tooth and one to show me how well he can jump rope. The kids ran, we sent them for water, and one came back with food in her mouth.

This is not the first time she’s been caught sneaking food — and she wonders why her clothes are fitting more tightly. I sent an email to the teachers to be more aware of this situation so that parents can be contacted and I won’t find crumbs in the carpet.