That line of thinking also reminds me of The Pirates of Penzance and its overarching plot of a young man with an overdeveloped sense of duty who was born on leap day and apprenticed until his 21st birthday. I even confided in someone today my not-so-secret desire to someday play the role of the pirate king in a production of Penzance. I hope I get the chance to do so.
Today also had a strange start to it as we had rain/freezing rain/snow last night that coated poor Mera. I've been using a windshield screen to help speed up our morning routine, but it was so hardened to the windshield that its anchor to the driver-side mirror ripped off when I tried to detach it from the car. This strange trend was further continued when my scraper broke off of its handle as I was trying to remove the ice from the windows. I probably should have called it a day at that point, but making lesson plans for subs is just too much trouble.
Although I tried to wish everyone at school a "Happy Leap Day," I found myself snapping at my students more than I would have liked, especially my advisory class at the end of the school day. At first it was going well. I started the lesson on food and its connection to physical and mental health with the "four corners exercise" as suggested in our "canned" lesson plan, but two minutes in, one of my more disruptive students made an entrance and proceeded to make a big deal about not having shoes due to having to "rush" to class. I sent the student to get the shoes that had somehow been accidently shut in a locker (which is on the opposite side and lower floor of the school) and managed to regain the lesson just in time for the student to return and announce that the shoe laces must have jammed the locker. I told the student to let the office know. We were actually making progress again when the student returned and immediately stated, "I don't know what we're doing; this is stupid." To this, I responded (and I quote), "Just shut up. Shut up. Shut up!"
Not my best moment. At least these days only come once every four years ...