Seven Hours

I had a hard time going to school. No, I don't mean this morning. I mean starting school; when I was five. I cried every day. The counselor and I were best friends. It didn't help that I had the meanest woman on God's green earth as a KINDERGARTEN teacher! Every day was an insurmountable obstacle. When I got out of dad's van, I would never return. Every day.
So, as I sit in the waning minutes of this Friday, with a raucous 7th grade team celebration having just concluded, I'm reminded of a piece of advice I received in that first year of my formal education. On a particularly rough day one morning, the assistant principal, Mrs. Fairweather, said this to me, "Honey, the school day is ONLY seven hours long." For whatever weird reason... it worked. How? I have no idea. Seven hours is an ETERNITY to a five year old. But, it was the way she said it "ONLY seven hours long", that got the job done. Once I knew this hidden gem of a scholastic secret, the days flew by. As each hour passed, I subtracted it from my grand total of seven, took a deep breath, and continued. This mantra continues to get me through the days that drag on. Most days don't. Most days, I have fun and the days fly by. However, every now and then I need to simply remind myself that, "the school day is ONLY seven hours long."