Yesterday I saw a picture of how I think the world should be, a world that would be filled with more peace and less war, more joy and less anger, more love and less of all the things that fill hearts with hurt, anger, despondence...
Picture the scene...
A playground with children- smiling, running, playing, pretending, happy children. Picture a little boy picking flowers until his hands are full of small yellow blossoms and then running around the playground giving his flowers to all the girls in class. He tells many, including his teacher, "It's girl flower day. My dad said it's flower girl day!" Picture some of the girls running over to show their teacher what the little boy had done and see their smiles of happiness from this kindness.
Then I saw the most beautiful picture of friendship and kindness that I think I might have ever seen in fifteen years of teaching. One child, took the flowers offered her, patted the boy's hand kindly and thanked him for her gift. She took time to look at the flowers, smile, and share her joy with him personally, simply, sweetly and with such true friendship.
Let me add to this that the little boy is, well... special. I don't mean that as a put down. He is truly a special child. I believe time will provide a "label" of some kind- I have my suspicions and have been trying all year to get someone to see the signs I see without any help, support for the child or any interventions. My students see the difference between themselves and the little boy, but they are so kind and gentle to him. Never, not even once, have I ever seen or heard them make fun of this child, express anger at him, or be unkind to him. They help him daily, ignore the things that can be annoying, and cheer for even his smallest success like it was the world's biggest accomplishment. My class has made me cry more than once this year when they cheered for this little one printing a very weak, but legible copy of his first name, the first time he put his coat on by himself, the first time he opened his own milk or built something with blocks. They often bring him to me to show me some new thing he has learned and are more excited than even I am!
Each year I work very hard to create a "family" atmosphere in my room, a place where we all work together, cheer each other on, believe in each other, and in the end develop a close, friendly-kind of love for one another. I want my room to be a safe place where all are accepted- good, bad, pretty, ugly, "smart" or seemingly not- where each person is able to grow and become more than what they were when they arrived- including myself.
There are so many, many things about myself that I despise, that I feel I have ruined or messed up. I know my faults and hide many of them from even my closest family members, but in this one thing I feel I have succeeded. I have created a small world where people are loved for who they are, accepted just the way they are, cheered for when they do well, shown kindness and acceptance and freedom to continue on life's path. I have a world that is just the way it should be. I wish the "real world" could be that way too.
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