When the masks come off...

So this blog isn't really about being a mom... unless you count that I am a working mom and therefore I have a whole lot of life outside the minutes I spend with my child... I take care of other people's children... I teach them, I nurture them, I listen to them, and hopefully I help them. This one is about me...
I started at a new school district this year. In my new district we get support from a co-op. About a week or two after I started there was a meeting for all new Speech Language Pathologist's (SLP's) in the co-op districts. When the head SLP for the co-op asked me how things were going... I asked her "When do the masks come off?" I explained that there was no way that everyone was this nice, this welcoming, and this supportive at my new school. Anytime you have that many women working that close together there is bound to be cattiness and backstabbing. She told me... "Oh just wait til February... When we are covered in snow and IEP meetings every one's true colors come out." I forgot her warning as the year continued. I became part of a team... I made friends... and I enjoyed going to work every day.
Guess what it's February... I am waist deep in referrals, meetings, reports, and paperwork... there is more snow than anyone knows what to do with... and guess what happened? The masks came off... but not in the way I expected... I hit my breaking point and snapped just a little. I completely didn't mean to but I took out some of my job stresses on my team... but instead of seeing them turn on me like I expected... I saw their true colors. They embraced my stress and took off running to solve my problems. Nobody criticized me for snapping... nobody blamed me... they just helped.
Am I still a little stressed? Of course! Its the nature of working in special education as the 2ND half of the year comes around... but do I now know that I have teammates and friends behind me every step of the way? I sure do... and it means all the difference in the world. I love what I do... but more than anything I love that I do it with these people. Thank you to the best mentor I could ever ask for (I mean seriously she has my back... and she brings me Starbucks)... and the best team I could ever be a part of!