a unlikely hug

As a Montessorian I am probably not suppose to be as excited by my little unexpected hug today, but I am. I am thrilled to my core. There is this little boy in my class, who is a challenge in so many ways, but both C and I are committed to loving him, regardless what he does. Sometimes it is easy other times it is almost impossible not to loose patience with him. On top of challenging behavior he tends not to really relate to people. Today however he came to me ready to go outside (finally the rest of the class had been out for quite a while) without his mittens on. I reminded him about his mittens he came back and asked for help putting them on. I coached him through the first one but helped him with the second mitten. He got the most beautiful and lucid smile on his face and did a little dance and said, "I like it when you help me" and then hugged me! This child rarely communicates emotion and to be so sincere and focused at me...........well it was just an honor. I know he should be proud of all he can do for himself, but just for today I will relish that his life was a tiny bit better because I helped him.

Secret Ingredient

So all week starting with Evelyn each child has made one dinner on the nights we are home. Evelyn made Brilliant burgers from her kids cook book. Jack made Tuna patties and Allison was scheduled to make tacos. Wednesday was just an awful day at work. We had closed door meetings, peoples hours were cut, the school is in financial trouble, people speculating- panicking, just unpleasant. In any case as I drove Allison home from school (Jack and Evelyn stayed late for cooking) I was fighting tears. I felt heartbroken at the thought of not having my little classroom next year. In any case I was barely paying attention to her as she happily chatted away about her dinner. Then she said "Do you know the secret ingredient to my Tacos?" I answered no. Then she says, "love. I am going to sign 'happy love day' to the meat before we cook it so the love will be right in it." Thank goodness for little kids. They truly do bring out the best in the world. She did too. She signed (sign language) it right into the Tacos and later while we were all eating she proudly asked if I could taste the secret ingredient. I honestly answered yes.

2010

This will be the year of the posts- One of my resolutions. I think it is cathartic for me to write. I am tired of trying to make it light, or fun, or anything. So daily I will write what ever wants to be written the most.

Starting the year off with resolutions is always one of those things....are they worth it? Every year I look back trying to remember what I resolved to do last year- rarely can I remember. I am not sure what that means exactly so I will again resolve to make this year better. I think that was my resolution last year. I would say 2009 was pretty much a good year for us. Joe's job move wasn't as miserable as we orginally thought and being a two car family has been a wonderful perk. The kids all adjusted to the school year with more ease than they have in previous years. Evelyn enjoys being a second year being able to "know" what is going on in the room and sharing her knowledge with the first years. Jack was sad at first to not be in the new classroom, going so far as to carrying a dictionary in his bag (since he didn't have any text books like the other room) but I think he has come to value one more year with the wonderful teachers he has. Allison has just "exploded into reading" which has been exciting for her and a relief to us as she hadn't really been motivated academically before. She just took a book out of the library the other day and read the whole thing only getting stuck on two silent "e" words. I took the leap and started NETEC training this summer. It was an interesting experience switching roles with Joe. He took all his vacation time to stay home with the kids while I was out at school every day from 7-5 every day. I enjoyed the newness of it. I loved learning everything again. I remembered and realized so much more than I missed the first time. I bonded with Cristina, my co-teacher at Blue Hills. We have continued the bond into the school year. I think we make a fabulous team. She is a wonderful person and I honestly feel honored just to know her, working in our truly peaceful classroom is my favorite part of every day. Writing the albums on time and passing, with some corrections, has been a huge boost to my confidence. Coming up I have huge things due in January but I feel really supported and actually pretty excited to continue checking off my goals heading towards being a lead teacher.

So New Years resolutions: of course, exercise more and eat better will be there but for 2010 I want to practice being more present in the moment and to appreciate what I have and to respect that there is always more to want.

Cheers to 2010