The Wicket
A Day in the Life: Mrs. HamiltonWednesday, April 07, 2010 By Peggy Hamilton, AP Langauge and Comp Teacher
5 a.m.—If I am being good, I get up and workout. If I am not being good, which is most days, I sleep until… 6 a.m.—Wake up, drag myself to the shower, and get dressed for the day. 6:30 a.m.—I wake up my very sleep-deprived freshman, Moira. 6:35 a.m.—I double-check that Moira is actually out of bed since she has burned me once by falling back to sleep after I woke her up! Then I go to the kitchen and make the coffee, have some breakfast, and make a lunch to bring to school. 7a.m.—Moira and I say goodbye to the rest of the family who are just waking up as we leave for school. We hop into the Mini-Cooper and head down to Visitation. 7:30 a.m.—We always arrive at school by 7:30 in the morning so that we have time to get organized for the day. I check my e-mail, make photocopies for class, grade papers. 8 a.m.—3 p.m.—I spend my day tumbling through my classes with extremely intelligent and highly motivated students, discussing rhetorical devices, Transcendentalism or a great work of American literature. If it’s Tuesday, I get the chance to catch up with my pal Mrs. Mattingly as we struggle through the math of making change for the Visi girls buying provisions at lunch in the cafeteria. 3:15 p.m.—I change into my “coaching clothes” (or my fabulous sweatsuit that Gabby Bilotta `10 and Mary Maloney `10 mercilessly make fun of!), pack up my computer and books, grab my bags, and head over to the gym for varsity basketball practice. Then I spend a couple of hours living vicariously through the team. 5:30 p.m.—Practice ends, and I go upstairs to workout in the gym or to grade papers while I wait for Moira to finish the JV practice. Ah, papers. Just like laundry—every time I finish a pile, more appear to tackle! 7 or 7:30 p.m.—Depending on what time her practice ends, Moira and I head home and greet the family. Usually Maeve meets us at the door and launches into a recap of her day which almost always includes someone—not her!—getting in trouble in her kindergarten class. Jack, a fifth-grader, most often greets us by sharing some news from the world of sports—a college basketball score, a tidbit from the dysfunctional Redskins drama, a random fact about his fantasy football team. My husband greets us with the news of what’s for dinner since he usually does the cooking, and fortunately, he is quite good at it. 8:00 p.m.—We eat dinner together, sharing the news and the gossip of the day. I do the dishes while Maeve takes a shower and gets ready for bed. 8:30 or 9 p.m.—I put Maeve to bed and read her a story of her choosing. Right now we’re reading Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed. We say prayers, and then I get her dad to read to her and tuck her in. 9:30 p.m.—My husband and Jack are usually watching a basketball game on TV, so I am the bad cop who tells Jack he has to go to bed. I say prayers with him and tuck him in, and then he tells me that he doesn’t have a clean uniform for school the next day. 9:45 p.m.—I do the laundry, folding it while I either talk to my husband or catch up on the latest episode of Glee. I also usually make Moira, Jack, and Maeve’s lunches for school around this time. Jack is always happy if his lunch includes something with Nutella on it. 10:30 p.m.—Time to get ready for bed! I put out my clothes for the next day, pack my basketball bag, put on pajamas, and wash up. Then I go to Moira’s room to say goodnight. I tell her that it’s almost 11 and ask, “Are you almost done with your homework?” In Visitation fashion, she answers, “no!” So I pass the responsibility on to my husband the night owl to make sure she gets to sleep by midnight because I’m hitting the sack! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz |