It Wasn't So Bad After All!

We have been gearing up for state testing for several weeks.  I have repeatedly told my class that they would be fine, they knew there stuff and all would be okay.  We have been reviewing with lots of fun games this week and again I reassured them.  Yesterday afternoon we had a huge pep rally to get the students amped up, ready to go, and of course remind them to go to bed early and eat a good breakfast before they came to school today.  Afterward I said it yet again, "You guys have this!!  You are going to do a great job, just relax and do your best!" 

So why was I up at 4 AM when I didn't even have to go to the rink?  I bet you can guess.  I was in a full blown stress out/ panic attack!  I kept worrying that they wouldn't remember what to do when they got their test booklets, that they would not listen to directions, that they would mess up transferring from the test booklet to the answer sheet, or that (insert dramatic music here) I would be one of the lucky few teachers to have a state auditor in my classroom today.  Now I have no idea why this hit me at 4 AM!  I was the one who wasn't at all worried about it yesterday.  My class is ready for this, they are really good kids and really smart kids!  It just hit me.  

Then I got worried about other stuff- why wasn't Belle up and headed to the rink?  She wasn't happy that I woke her up.  Why weren't the dogs barking since I had been to the bathroom 3 times and out to Belle's room?  Why was Peter Pan still snoring while I was so worked up?  I tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use, I was wide awake.  So I got up and showered, and checked email and played on Facebook for a while.  Then I found a Starbucks card with money still on it so I got dressed, went to Starbucks and went to work. 

The test went just fine!  I had no reason to worry.  The kids didn't melt down, there was no auditor, no one threw up on their test (I can remember this happening to a coworker, and ewwwwww!)  All went well.  I am back to, my class has this!  At least until 4 tomorrow morning...