Is it Christmas yet?

As a teacher, one of the great perks is getting nearly three weeks off for "Winter Break." At my school we still can say "Christmas" and even dress up for Halloween. But back to the point, I am so ready for vacation. This year I have 27 darling little seven-year-olds depending on me to educate them. Unfortunately with this large number of kids I feel more like a referee than a teacher. Instead of spending 15 minutes on proper nouns, it's 10 minutes getting 54 eyes looking at me and 270 fingers out of their noses. Not to mention all of the "So-and-so hit me" and "so-and-so called me a name." (By the way, my kids do have nicer names than so-and-so, just keeping my hynie covered.) So that leaves 5 minutes learning about proper nouns. And in just a year these kids will be taking a state standardized test that is supposed to reflect on how effective my teaching is. I guess what this all really boils down to is that there are too many little darlings under my wings. I love each of them for their own little quirks, but man am I drained at the end of each day. So as I look at the calendar and count down the days, I can't wait for that Christmas vacation just for the sheer fact that I can re-energize! And shop :)