[Verse 1]
Every August smells like dry erase hope
Fresh paper dreams and a lanyard rope
I tell myself this year I’ll finally get it right
Reach every kid sitting silent in fluorescent light
I’ll teach better than I ever have before
Different paths for every learner walking through that door
No bad kids, just bruises from another place
So I greet every hard-eyed child with a little grace
And they fool you at first while they learn your ways
Little perfect angels in those early days
Parent teacher conferences, I proudly grin
“You must be so proud of the kid you’re raising”
But those confused looks from mama and dad
Should’ve warned me then that calm don’t last
[Chorus]
Then they come back after break and I swear they changed overnight
Who are you and what’d you do with my sweet kid from September light?
Yeah the honeymoon is over, now the real child’s here
And he ain’t going nowhere till the end of the year
So buckle up buttercup, this is where you earn your pay
Pulling out your hair a little more each day
Doing damage control while loving them anyway
Earning every gray hair along with your pay
[Verse 2]
By March my coffee’s basically blood
My desk looks buried in an avalanche flood
One kid barking, one kid crying, one asleep again
One somehow set a pencil pouch on fire with a pen
“Can I go to the bathroom?” “Sure.” I sigh
“Can I sharpen this?” “Yeah.” “Can I sit by…”
At this point child I no longer care
Just don’t start a riot while I’m standing here
And somehow underneath the chaos and noise
You still catch glimpses of those girls and boys
The ones they could become if life plays fair
So you keep showing up because somebody’s there
[Chorus]
Yeah they come back after break and I swear they changed overnight
Who are you and what’d you do with my sweet kid from September light?
Yeah the honeymoon is over, now the real child’s here
And he ain’t going nowhere till the end of the year
So buckle up buttercup, this is where you earn your pay
Pulling out your hair a little more each day
Doing damage control while loving them anyway
Earning every gray hair along with your pay
[Bridge]
By May I got a manic grin I call a smile
Counting down the days the whole last mile
Telling myself I’m finally free this time
Never again… at least till July
[Final Chorus]
Then the last bell rings and the hallway clears
And suddenly the silence sounds weird in my ears
The room’s a wreck but the chairs all stand
Like ghosts of crayons and tiny hands
Yeah they drove me crazy nearly every day
Tested every ounce of patience I could pray
But when I lock that classroom one last time
Somehow I know I’m gonna miss those little minds
Because every year starts with hope again
And somehow teachers still walk back in
ElCeviche
