Sometimes this job makes me feel like I have bipolar disorder. At 2:45 I’m screaming at Chris and Christina to stop fighting in the hallway (cause: Chris calling Christina “vomit;” highlight: Chris using the cast on his broken arm as a bludgeon), and at 3:15 I’m enjoying a calm afterschool snack at McDonald’s with Oryn and James, while we chat about everything from getting into college to how cell phones work (highlight: “It would be too hard to be a science teacher, because you have to memorize everything in the notes – you don’t even have cue cards or anything!”).

Also, in a brilliant feat of dyslexia, when I was selecting the materials for my Amgen grant and meant to get 8 packs of multicolored markers, I accidentally got “multicultural” ones. Now my kids can make posters and projects in all the colors of tan that they want!