This week at work has been pretty hectic so far. The other teacher in my room is on vacation, so instead of having four teachers in our two connected rooms, we’ve had three teachers for 40 students. And when you’re trying to help one kid while two are pushing each other, three are poking you because they need to pee/eat/sharpen a pencil, and one is crying in a corner, it can, well, make you want to scream. What gets me through is the little and unexpected cute things that happen throughout the day. So far this week different children have told me “you smell good”, “I think you’re pretty”, and “um, I love you”. And I’ve got to tell you, that feels pretty good. One little boy today even said that he wanted to give me a kiss, so I stuck out my cheek and he gave me a little peck. Then he smiled and said, “I’m gonna marry you.” That was pretty much the cutest and funniest thing ever (and coincidentally brings my marraige proposals up to 4 – ka-ching!).
The other day one of the extremely independent (as in he doesn’t ever want to do what he’s told) boys in my class started crying on the playground. I think he squished his fingers in something, as tends to happen on occasion with masses of children on a playground. I picked him up and asked him if he wanted to hold my hand as the class walked back inside. He didn’t want to. So I put him down and herded the other children into a line and helped them meander back inside, when I felt something brush against my hand. I looked around and the little boy was shyly standing next to me, but looking away like he wasn’t really trying to hold my hand. Cause he’s too cool for that. So I let my hand hang at my side while I helped the other kids, and sure enough in a few more seconds I felt a little hand in mine, which held on until we got back into the classroom. Pretty cute.
It still kind of amazes me when six kids fight over who gets to sit next to me, and one actually starts crying and wailing “I never get to sit on her lap!” They may only be 4 years old, but hey, I’ll take my popularity when I can get it. I’m trying to hold onto these little things, and keep them in mind when I think about the freakishly low pay, lack of benefits or any breaks throughout the day, and that I have to drive 40 minutes there and back. Because I’m thinking, and hoping, that these little things are what makes it all worth while.
