Another Week

Well, Whisper Day on Tuesday has turned into whisper week; only kinderkids aren't capable of a "whisper week." A day is their limit. :) Although they were concerned about me, they weren't able to keep their voices down and their bodies quiet for a whole week! So I'm very hoarse and sore from "whisper teaching" just to be half-heard all day for the past several days. Have you ever tried to get a group of kids attention by whispering at the top of your lungs? It's not as easy as you might think! :) My assistant, Kristen, was pulled most of the week for proctoring, crisis intervention, and a half million other jobs she has to do around our school, so much of the time I was croaking alone. Picture me trying to do assessments while whispering/half talking and my voice coming in and out in a room full of kinderkids playing with blocks, working on the computer, reading, pounding playdough, playing alphabet games, and more. No wonder my kids kept saying, "Huh?" at me! :) Ha! Ha!

Then, Sarah, a fellow K teacher across the hall tells me to rest my voice and be quiet this weekend; she said that is what she did when she had the hoarseness/lost voice and it helped. I quickly reminded her that I was sure that was great advice and I would love to be able to follow it, but I also reminded her that I am a mother of three teenagers so I was equally sure it would be next to impossible. We had a good laugh about that.

Now, more seriously, my adopted father had some heart problems this week and has spent several days in the hospital. He had tests and a angioplasty yesterday, and as far as I know at this time is home. I was so wishing I could have been there and not here. I kept thinking how if we hadn't moved to good ol' NC, Rob and I and the kids would have been up at the hospital with my mom and sister, keeping them company... I know I couldn't do anything to help them even if I was there- I mean what was I going to do- heal him? But, still I wish I could have gone home to sit there with my family. My sister reminded me that it might be more important to come home later and to wait... Besides, it's not like I have the money anyway. If Pop had dropped dead (thank God, he isn't going to), I wouldn't have had enough $ to drive out of the state, let alone all the way to Illinois. It's a family joke now about me apologizing all the time and feeling guilty for things I have no responsibility for (you know like the day was cloudy or the mail came an hour late)... My sister and mom called me the other night laughing to ask me if I felt like a "bad daughter" yet. Well, no, I don't. I have no reason to; it's not my fault and it's not that I don't care and wouldn't come if I could. But I do hate that I'm stuck way out here when things go wrong and I may not be able to come home. But such is life and life goes on.

The last exciting or not thing to my week was dealing with a son and his bad grades and his hiding them and his lack of responsibility..... I won't bore myself with remembering it all here again. Then I called my mom in tears, blabbed all my "deep, dark secrets" and felt silly later. After all the child was fine when he cooled off in the shower and I obviously don't need to take him too seriously; face it he was just being "bratty." I didn't say my child was a brat, just behaving brattily.

Well, at least the week is over and the weekend now here. The kids are good to me, and I do love them dearly. All is well again on the home front until the next crisis, and my dad is home and will make it and if he takes care of himself live to be an old pestering man. :) He! He!

Another week of my life is done, and now I must prepare for the next.

Shallow Me

I often tell my sister that she's "too deep" for me. It's become a joke between us. I make the same comment to my hubby lots of times. My sister and husband and parents have lots of well-thought out opinions about many topics, and they are not afraid to read, think, and talk about controversial issues, politics, church/religion/God, or about anything else that comes up in adult conversation. (Which can sometimes make for "interesting" situations in our family of talkers.) And now even my kids are starting to get "deep" on me from time to time. Then there's me. :)

See I think life is like a swimming pool. You know how a pool is, right? A shallow entry end that's safe for the "little kids" who can't really swim much or well. Their parents are always right there with them watching over them so they don't get in water too deep or over their head. Then there's this rope that marks off the deep waters where the good swimmers can go. That's where you dive in and swim and do laps and all that really "grown-up" stuff.

Well, see, I live in the shallow end of the "Pool of Thoughts." It's to protect myself so I don't drown from thoughts too difficult for me to comprehend. :) I'm just kidding!

I just sometimes can't form opinions on topics because I think I think on this side of an issue, and then I start thinking about the other side, and well, then I get "confused" or I just don't know. I don't have time to be as well-read as my hubby on current events or political things. He reads all kinds of news sites daily on the Internet and in print to find many different sources & reads people from many points of view and follows topics regularly. He knows and often contacts our various governmental representatives, stays abreast of what's going on in the local government, has all kinds of thoughts and opinions about politics... He reads about historical events; although since he does teach world history and has taught government, I guess that makes sense. He has strong views on capital punishment, immigration, the economy, and many other topics. When I talk with or listen to my parents and sister, I feel the same way about them.

It's not that I think I'm not smart and they're all brilliant or something. I know I'm a smart person too. I don't know what it is; maybe I'll blame it on teaching 5 year olds all day long. :) Outside of working with kids, and whatever insights I get from above there, I don't think I'm a very deep person. Maybe it's because all my brain power is spent trying to listen to all those kids all day long, and then I have to go home and listen to my dear children blab, giggle, complain, bicker... and remember who has what tonight and has to be where and when, and what are we cooking for dinner, and how much $ is in the checkbook (will this bounce before payday?), and what am I going to put on next week's menu.... That's it! Maybe I'm killing all my brain cells thinking about all that other stuff! :) Ha! Ha!

I don't know why I'm so shallow sometimes, but this is what I do know. I know that I'm a good wife, mom, and teacher. I know that I absolutely adore my three almost grown children and love lots of kids at school; I get morning hugs and "hi's" from kids I haven't even taught; the list of kids who come to see me for a hug in the morning has grown infinitely this year. Guess word has spread that I'm a hugger and hugs are free in my room. :) So I've decided maybe I was meant to be shallow. Seriously, that's where all the kids are in the pool, isn't it? So I'm okay with being shallow me. Leave the deep stuff for others. Besides, the shallow end is fun! :)

Sunshine

I have had some interesting challenges this school year. It has been one of the most difficult years for me as a teacher. Among my challenges this year, was a little girl (I'll call her Ann- though that's not her real name). Ann has come such a long way this year; it's almost like she's another child! Well, there have been many days when I thought Ann would never improve and that I must be a terrible teacher because I wasn't getting through to her or helping her to overcome her obstacles.

When at a loss, I've just hugged her and loved on her and silently prayed for her and myself and a few times even cried for her. BUT, when Ann is having a good day, she's a doll! She has the funniest laugh I've ever heard in a child, and a BIG smile! She loves to play in my hair- fascinated by it; I don't know why! She has stood for long spells at a time in the classroom and on the playground just playing in my hair, rubbing it, feeling it, smelling it, talking about it... Now she's fascinated by my skin with all its "spots and dots"- those pesky freckles, moles, and assorted marks I have. :)

When Ann's happy, I have to be happy- even on my worst days! It's like seeing the sun on a rainy day after a bad storm. It just brightens up my whole world! A while back, I started calling her my "Sunshine." Whenever she crawls up in my lap in the class or outside-which is daily, I greet with her that title and sing her the Sunshine song- you know- "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away." At first, she giggled and said she wasn't my sunshine. But I've just kept explaining what that song/phrase meant, and have just kept singing that to her. Well this week, while walking, I heard another child say to me that Ann was my sunshine. I agreed and kept on walking with my class back to the room. Next thing I know, Ann is singing away the Sunshine song, and when I looked back at her, she was smiling and so proud! It looked like her face would bust from pride!

Today, she made me smile and feel so proud! Today, she told the whole class that she was my sunshine, and I was hers! WOW! "I am her sunshine, her only sunshine. I make her happy when skies are gray. I'll never know dear, how much she loves me. Please don't take her sunshine away."

Whisper Day

What's a teacher to do when she has laryngitis? Well, today I declared it "Whisper Day" in my classroom. Talk about being cute! A roomful of kindergarteners trying to whisper when they can't even use an "inside voice" under normal circumstances. They were, actually very good today; maybe they really do care about their old, grouchy teacher. :)

They all inquired or stared at me curiously when I croaked out or whispered my good morning greeting that I do everyday. Many of them looked like they were scared I had been abducted by an alien or something. Then, as the other children arrived, all the "old" kids who already knew about my voice kept going over to the "new" arrivals and whispering that it was "Whisper Day" and that Mrs. Thomas had lost her voice.

During morning meeting time, they kept questioning me about what happened to my voice and what did it mean "I lost my voice." So I tried to explain what that phrase meant. Many of them wondered where my voice went. So for our writing time we created a book (O said "It's going to be fiction 'cuz it's not real.") about where my voice might have gone. They had me looking in some interesting places- Harris Teeter (the local grocery store), my mother's house in Illinois (this author even looked at my mom's picture by my desk to find out what she looked like and drew her with her red hair), an airplane, the playground, and apparently my voice visited several students' homes overnight because they were searching in their homes in many stories. It was too funny! They really enjoyed creating these stories!

When recess arrived, they (and I) realized that all the children had managed to stay on green this morning- a major accomplishment! We celebrated and cheered!!!! At days' end, they were still there on the green light, and I rewarded them with their choice of stickers for their sticker charts or pennies for their banks. Whisper Day was actually really good. I was dreading it as I was going to be alone today while my assistant was proctoring tests in the older grades, but it turned out to be a good day!