Magnificent

As I was sitting in class this week, many different feelings ran through my body. We are in week 24 of 39 weeks of school...which, if you're a math whiz you can figure out, is more than halfway through the year. Scary thought that in 14 weeks, it's summer break. More scary and more painful is that my kids will leave me.

It's funny because no matter who I am talking to, old, young, teacher, non-teacher, cashier, mailman, friend, family, acquaintance, etc. they always say something along the lines of: "wow, what an impact you're making on their little lives...they are lucky to have you."

In reality, I am so blessed to have them. Who else can say that they get to play dress up, kiss boo boos, laugh constantly at silly, absurd things, see changes and growth and a spark for learning ignite, on a daily basis. Friends, I get to do this.

This week, my favorite student, Tito, was talking to me during lunch (my favorite time during the day because there's no agenda or learning happening). We were talking about whatever, either singing Rihanna lyrics or having "Girl Talk" when he was suddenly taken by my scarf. He lifted up it's shimmery, light blue tassels at the end, and said, "Can I take this home?" I looked at him and said, "T, I can't give this to you. It was a gift from my sister; she'd be so mad!" Unphased, still mesmerized by the scarf, he lifted it up and whispered in awe, "it's just magnificent."

Big vocab word there. I certainly didn't teach him that. But the point being, I love the passing of knowledge from me to them but the thing that wakes me up every morning, the thing that keeps me excited to see them every day, is the small, little, silly things that light my heart with joy. Between them dancing the Cha Cha slide or Gangnam style or Soul Train (yes, we did this),  or saying the perfect thing at the right moment or just saying something so out there that it didn't make sense at all; it's all so magnificent.

 I had one friend help me read a book during lunch in front of the entire class. He helped me flip the pages as I read so he sat directly next to me while the other kids were on the carpet. About halfway through the book, he stood up and shoved his hand down his pants. (Graphic here, sorry, friends) Stunned, I looked at him and whispered, "what are you doing?" He point blank looked at me and sternly and loudly said, "I got to make sure my penis is still there!" (Duh, Ms. Katie...duh.)

Unpredictable. Undefined. Magnificent.

Coming full circle, they are going to move on to 1st grade next year. They won't be mine anymore. I think that is a major down side of teaching that never occurred to me before: they get older. As much as I have been to them and as much as I've taught them...they have blessed my life and given my life so much meaning. I laugh, I cry, I scratch my head but in the end, I love them and that is just... magnificent.