"Closing time, time for you to go out to the places you will be from. Closing time, this room won't be open 'til your brothers or you sisters come. So gather up your jackets, and move it to the exits, I hope you have found a friend. Closing time, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." ~semisonic

Tomorrow is the last day of school. I'm a mixed bag of emotions. This has been a really tough week, so I'll be relieved when it's over. I've screamed a lot. They are crazier than ever (which I didn't think was possible). In the past three days they've turned my classroom into a baseball field, a basketball court, and a wrestling ring. There's just no incentive to behave well now. They know their grades are in and that they'll all be moving on to the next grade. They don't mind detention because it means they get to spend more time with their friends. Even phone calls home don't phase them. They're absolutely wild. They know how awful they're being and they don't care at all. One kid told me they're having fun because this is the last chance they'll have to spend time together. I guess they're worried they won't see each other over the summer, which is a valid concern. Their parents' schedules will complicate things and a bunch of them are going to D.R. with their families. Anyway, they're absolute terrors and it's wearing me out.

At the same time, I know I'll miss them. They're my life right now. Seriously. My world revolves around them. I spend more time with them than with anyone else (by a longshot). They spend more time with me than they spend with their own parents. I am with them all day. Even when I'm not the one teaching them, I'm with them. I even spend my preps in the classroom with them. Basically we only spend 30 minutes apart (lunch) during the entire school day. I know them so well. They're my first class ever, which makes our bond even more intense. Their science teacher warned me about what I'll go through over the summer, and I'm sure it's true because I already experienced it to a degree over our week-long breaks during the school year. When I'm not with them, I dream about them. I wake up thinking about them. They're constantly on my mind. They'll be impossible to shake. When something that takes up your whole life is suddenly taken away from you, you're going to have to adjust. And even though they've made me miserable at times, I love them. They're my babies. So it'll be tough.