It looks like the Halloween season is starting early this year

[Murfreesboro]

On my walk around my neighborhood yesterday morning, I saw a small sign, apparently wooden, stuck into someone's front yard. It was a smiling ghost holding up the message, "Boo," in black and white.

Now, many of my neighbors celebrate Halloween elaborately, and one or two keep a skeleton on their porches year-round. But I noticed this sign because it was new. The house has sold since last holiday season, and for most of this year it has been subject to intense cleaning/remodeling. So whoever put this little ghost-greeter out is a new neighbor.

I was surprised by it because it is quite early to start decorating for Halloween, August 8 or perhaps the 7th. I'll keep watch to see if anything more appears before the spooky season.

[Murfreesboro]

Just read on a Better Homes and Gardens site that IKEA is stocking lots of Halloween decor now, apparently for the first time.

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

When I moved here there were a bunch of people that decorated for Halloween, now I'm the only person on the block that still does, though almost everybody around here still decorates for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, some places here already had out Christmas stuff last month. I'm sure that by Oct. we will have Easter decorations on the shelf.

[Murfreesboro]

Lol

I haven't seen anything Christmas yet. I did see that one of my neighbors had put out autumnal decorations today (not Halloween, but fall banners, etc.). We pant for autumn around here because the summers can be so brutal, and often it doesn't start feeling like fall until mid-Oct.

[NeverMore]

Yeah. I just saw a post on r/Halloween where Target was already planting Christmas decorations, even before Halloween.

I miss the days when I could spend October hunting Halloween decorations. Now, if you wait till October, all the good stuff is gone.

[Murfreesboro]

Well, here in Middle TN, the kids go back to school the first week of August, so of course all the stores raced to back-to-school on July 5th. But a day or so ago I saw a couple of fall/Halloween themed magazines at Kroger. One was a craft magazine, so that was timely, but the other was Country Sampler and really just focused on home decor.

Now this afternoon, at Walmart, I saw Halloween themed clothing for toddlers, as well as some black and orange autumnal flowers.

[Andybev01]

August? Poor kiddos.

I will have to go and scan the magazine racks.

[MauEvig]

Poor kiddos!? Teachers and aides have to go back earlier due to Inservice trainings (that are usually 99.99% useless videos) and meetings (that COULD have been emails... ). I'm not looking forward to August rolling around the corner.
Growing up in New York meant we didn't go back to school until after labor day in September. I always associated September as "back to school" month, but now it's just another month. At least it has labor day weekend! Sometimes we'd even go back the Wednesday after Labor Day, so our first week of school was only 3 days. I had a friend who had a birthday around that time. I found that unfortunate. Imagine having your birthday be the first day back to school! Man! I felt bad for her.
Well on a serious note, even kids went back in September, I'm sure teachers and aides would still have to go back a couple weeks prior for all the lame meetings. Teachers barely get time to set up bulletin boards and lesson plans. When we're short staffed, we're often tasked with providing coverage.
And don't even get me started on all the double standards in education.
But the good news is I've signed up to take the praxis on the 3rd, so wish me luck you guys! If I pass it, I'll be one step closer to teacher licensure. Once I get my license, I'll be seeking full time teaching jobs. The sad thing is, as an aide I kind of feel like we're a second thought, basically chopped liver. I can't wait to have my own classroom and won't have to follow the direction of a teacher anymore. I'll still have to listen to administration, but at least I'll get free reign for how I want to teach my kids and classroom. (Well, as long as I follow SOL state standards anyway. And SOL is NOT what you think it means...trust me I had to learn that the hard way because where I come from, it means something else I won't repeat here. In Virginia they stand for Standards of Learning. I wonder if Murf is familiar with them, or if she left VA after they were implemented.)

[Murfreesboro]

My husband would know about them, I'm sure. Since I taught in college, they didn't apply to me.

When I was a kid, we got three months off in the summer. Many of my best summer vacations happened in August. But the school year has been lengthened all over the country, I think. Up North they seem to get July and August off, whereas down here they get June and July. In Virginia they used to have something called the "King's Dominion clause," which meant that the public schools wouldn't start until King's Dominion amusement park near Richmond had had Labor Day weekend.

The kids do get more frequent and longer breaks during the school year than I did growing up. They get fall break, spring break, and a whole week at Thanksgiving. When I was growing up we got two days at Thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas, and Good Friday. Also two days in March for something called "Teachers' Meeting." My husband has more in-service days than that, and they are scattered throughout the school year. He usually dislikes the in-services, too, since he's made to sit through meetings he rarely finds useful. He is technically special ed, but he teaches the high end (gifted), and most of their in-services apply to the other end.

When I was in k-12 in Mississippi, the schools were not air conditioned. That may be another reason why we got the month of August off back then.

Mau, will you be taking your Praxis on August 3rd? I'll say a prayer for you. I know how much you want this, and I believe you'll make a fine teacher. Breaking into public education is harder than it should be, I think. Then again, some places are really hurting for teachers right now. I know Nashville is. So the teacher shortage may work in your favor. I hope so.

[Andybev01]

Good luck to you, Mau.

In my day we always broke for summer vacation the Friday before memorial day and back to school was the Tuesday after labor day.

From an adult perspective that sounds like such a luxury.

[MauEvig]

Here I SAY I don't want summer to be over...but then I decide I want some pumpkin spice coffee... You really can't go wrong with fall flavors though. Of course, I can't do them year round, because I get tired of them. And I want to make room for all the other seasonal flavors like peppermint for Christmas and such. I think I just don't want to rush life away.

But I guess it would be exciting to see some Halloween stuff out. At this point, it wouldn't even surprise me to see Christmas stuff out.
That said, I did have some pumpkin spice flavored k-cups.

July seems to be the common denominator here. Everyone wants that month off. I can't blame them. I think having a common month between the North and South is a good idea at least for travel reasons, so that families on both ends can theoretically visit each other.
You might have mentioned the "King's Dominion Clause" here and it makes sense that they would want to remain open through labor day. That's probably when they get the most money.

But we don't live in the Richmond area and that's a 3 hour drive approximately from where we live. That area does have some cool shops though. 2nd and Charles is one such place. They have a ton of games, comics and books there. There's something for everyone there.

And Andy's right, it is a luxury. Kids don't know how well they have it, or even how well they had it back in the day. But to be fair, we do get quite a few breaks in between for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And I assure you, both student and teacher alike need those.

Murf's husband sounds like he totally gets it. A lot of stuff applies to teachers even so and less with aides. And some of the advice in those long, drawn out videos makes no sense. We have a gifted program here, but our student who goes to that is considered twice exceptional. They're going onto 6th grade so I'm going to miss them. I've learned a lot about Autism and ADHD during my time studying for education.

I bet gifted is fun though. I think one reason I wouldn't want to do special ed as a teacher is having to coordinate IEP meetings, write IEPs and all the responsibility that comes with that. Sure, we have to follow SOL standards, but I feel like that isn't as bad as having to write individual plans for individual students. Teachers still have to follow IEPs and 504s and go to those meetings and provide appropriate accommodations, but determining eligibility and determining exactly what students need to succeed is a lot.

I myself found out I have ADHD, and I'm ready to disclose that. There's really no point in being ashamed of it. There's certain things I struggle with, like focusing and emotional sensitivities that neurotypicals don't deal with. I also realize though that I have a responsibility to work with and through what I have and I don't let that be an excuse or keep me from achieving my life goals. I went under the radar though as many girls do growing up. I'm thankful that more research is being done on neurodivergent differences like ADHD and Autism. However, I'm not going to candy coat these things either. They're still disabilities that make every day life more challenging. But sometimes they can come with gifts. People with ADHD tend to be creative, and during hunter-gatherer days it was actually useful for gathering food. It's not as useful for modern society though as we're confined to one area all the time. The thing is, we're all different and that's ok. We just have to figure out what works best for us to function, thrive and contribute to society.

The sad part is, my parents were told by my elementary school when I was little that I had ADD. That's what they called it back in the 90's. They dismissed it. They did have me tested though and me wanting to be a "normal little girl" for mom and dad faked out the tester. I guess I must have got good enough at masking it. Unfortunately, that did more harm than good because growing up meant struggling in school, getting bullied and not getting the help I really needed. And I ended up being ousted more often than not as a social outcast.

My dad kind of denies ADHD and is a "pick 'em up by the boot straps" kind of guy. But then he'll stare at the TV and you might ask him something or tell him something. Five minutes later he'll go, "what did you say?" ADHD is fake huh? You don't say!

But if you're ever wondering why my subjects tend to stray off topic or go off on odd tangents...now you know.

Thanks for the well wishes of luck and prayers though. It's much appreciated. I'll study hard and do my best!

[Andybev01]

I'm moving to my own apartment in almost 10 years and was moving my things out of storage today and I can tell you I was pleased to find a bagful of skulls.

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, Andy, I thought you were kind of permanently settled near your siblings. Will you be very far from them? What is your new place like? Will they let you decorate as you choose?

Mau, my husband is snowed under with paperwork for IEPs. Most special ed teachers have fewer than 20 students, some fewer than 10. But of course everyone wants their kid labeled "gifted," so he has more like 120. It is exhausting.

[Andybev01]

It's not far from my siblings ( about 30 miles) and my niece and her family are on the same street so if I need a quick family fix I'm covered.

It's a 60s era low-rise, 5 stories, and an over-55 community so no kids.

It's on a river with beautiful parks and farmers markets.

It's well below market rate so I couldn't turn it down.

[Murfreesboro]

That sounds like an ideal set up for you!