I Don't Want To...

I was feeling spontaneous today.
It was just one of those days.

Buddy Roller and I were riding around.
It was lunch time, and we were both hungry.
I decided to try one of those Korean barbeque places, one of several over in the Duluth area.
Why? Because I wanted to. I had wanted to for quite some time.
But if you have a four year old, I'd bet money you've been through this experience before.

"Mommy, I don't want to. I don't want to go there," he whined.
"I want Subway. I want Panda Express," he continued.
"I don't like it there," he grumbled.

He's been doing this a lot lately.
Already shutting down an idea without even giving it a try first.

I was determined to teach him a lesson.

We walked into the restaurant and were quickly seated. Buddy Roller received a kid's coloring page and crayons; he seemed quite content already.

"What's that smell mommy?" he asked.
Yes, I smelled it too. The establishment, or food, had quite a distinct smell.
I was hoping that wouldn't draw more complaints.
It didn't.
He was just curious it turns out.

I ordered safely since it was our first time.
Teriyaki chicken lunch box for me and steamed dumplings for Buddy Roller.
Before our meals came out, we were served some hot soup and several other little plates of appetizers, I'm assuming.

And guess who dove right in FIRST?

And guess who couldn't stop eating?

And guess who pretty much ate HALF of my meal?

And guess who kept asking for more?

And guess who wants to go back again?

Shaking my head! :-)

Lesson learned.

My Everything

The Hubs is away for five days.
Five whole days and four nights!!!
That's a whole lot of time.
He's not away from us that much, so I shouldn't complain at all, but I MISS him...

Crazy Talk

She's a teacher at my school, and she's just as cute as a button.

Whenever I see her in the hallways, she is ALWAYS smiling and VERY cheerful. And if you teach at my school, believe me, that is hard to do at the end of most days.

I arrived at school this morning and after several smiles and greeting fellow colleagues, "Good morning," I went to the mail room, and that's when I bumped into her.

We strolled out of the mail room on our way to our respective classrooms and had a little chat.

"Are you here next year?" I asked curiously.

"Of course," she replied like she would have it no other way, "I'm gonna die here."

Wow, I thought. It is so rare to hear talk like that around here. To some folks that could be crazy talk.

"This is a crazy place," she went on to say, "but these kids need some consistency, they need good people to stay here."

You see, we work at a Title I school. That means the majority of our kids are on free and reduced lunch. That means that there is not as much parental involvement as there should be. That means that most parents don't show up for conferences or events at the school. That means that a lot of our kids are parented by single moms or dads, or even grandparents. That means that some of my kids have parents who have been deported, or worse, been incarcerated. That means that our kids have a lot of needs and that means, quite frankly, that our job here as teachers is no easy feat.

This time of the year, there is a plan for what we call the "mass exodus." That means that some teachers who have been here a while are ready to move on to the next gig. That means that first year teachers have already made plans for either a new career or a move to a "better" school. That means that this school will, yet again, see lots of new teachers next year. And that means inconsistency for our kids who are already going through a tumultuous life.

I was so inspired by this teacher's comment. How come more teachers don't feel this way? I mean, what if? What if everyone felt this way? What if more teachers stayed here longer and committed more to these kids? Wouldn't this school be a better place for our kids? What if?

So her comment got me thinking. What about me? I, too, "tried" to make an exit this year. I wanted to experience what it's like to be at another school where parents are more involved, where kids don't have so much baggage, where things aren't crazy as heck sometimes, okay a lot of times.

I loved her perspective. It was refreshing, it was authentic, it was inspiring, and it was down right awesome!

It changed my perspective.

And that's no crazy talk. No sir.

Powerful Precepts

I mentioned in a previous blog that my students and I are reading the novel, Wonder. Throughout the pages of this inspirational book are many precepts, or important "rules" to live by.  One of my favorites is:

"When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind."  
—Dr. Wayne Dyer

As a culminating project, students had to find a precept, illustrate it, write about what it means to them, and explain how the world would be different if everyone followed this rule.

I was quite impressed with the projects and how my kids  interpreted their precepts. Below are just some examples of the precepts they chose to write about.

View From the Top

This Mother's Day weekend we decided to hit the road!

For Mom

Mom, this is for you...

The Truth About Forty

I turned 40 in January, and I wanted to blog about that supposed monumental occasion. But I wasn't ready then.  I am now...

The Real MVP

Photo from www.abcnews.go.com

As Mother's Day approaches, I am reminded about all the sacrifices moms make every day for their children...

A Sweet Change

The work week is just too predictable.

And it's rush...rush...rush.
The alarm clock goes off, and if you're like me, the snooze button will be pushed at least twice...just to get five extra minutes.
I wake up and in the midst of getting dressed, I try to get Buddy Roller up and dressed too.
I'm not even going to tell you the rigmarole it takes to get him up and out of bed (that's a whole other blog entry).
Then it's breakfast and rushing through the door, fighting traffic, taking Buddy Roller to school, and then hoping I will not be late again.
And evenings are no different; it seems we're just rushing to get to tomorrow, only to do it all over again!
By day four of the work week, I'm flat out exhausted and sick of the monotony.
But today I resisted the routine and gladly welcomed a refreshing change to the typical work week.
It was the perfect evening for an impromptu trip to a strawberry farm.
The sky was blue, not a cloud in sight, and there was a cool light breeze.
It wasn't too hot, nor too cold.
It was just right for picking sweet and juicy strawberries with a special little someone.

Change is good. 

Sometimes that's all you need to get you through to the end of the week.