My baby turned six today. Happy birthday, M.A. You bundle of energy, you ball of fire. You, my own little spitfire. I love you to the moon and back. Who would’ve ever thought we would get this far, intact. Intact being the key word here, and don’t think I don’t mean it. Intact, with most …
I am home today. Which is to say, I am not at work. Which is to say, I feel like a slacker. So. When one is home, as I myself have now discovered. There are a few things that sometimes occur. Sometimes large brown security trucks arrive unannounced in your driveway, with the unspoken expectation …
The big events in life are fantastic, of course. And when they happen, I am blown over. Awestruck. But it’s the little things that really get me. Those smallest of events, the little graces. And when something little happens to change the course of my day for the better, I know there is nothing else …
I am steering the van towards after-school destination numero deux in project “My Life as a Chauffer.” A tired Kindergartener rides solo in the backseat, a motley assortment of Foodland bags/backpacks/other odds and ends ride shotgun in the passenger side. And all the while, Veggie Tales blares in the background. One male character says to …
It’s little recess. I have maybe nine minutes to run to the washroom, grab a glass of water in the staff kitchen, and check my mailbox in the office. En route, I duck into an adjacent classroom to mine to make a quick phone call to a parent. The call is regarding a preference her …
Me: “Students, what are mammals?” Students: “They’re those animals on the movie Madagascar.” ****************** Me:(after a not so quiet, Quiet Time) “Students, do you know the meaning of the word “still” ? Female Student (using a very loud voice): “NO!!!!!! I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS????!!!” No, dear. I don’t reckon you do. And… …
Made my evening trek into the school tonight. 9:00 p.m. Kids are safely tucked into their beds, dark load of laundry is in process, house is tidy and relatively clean… therefore it is time to lesson plan! I think my van could drive the well-worn path there and back on auto-pilot, if need be. When …
In wake of the recent tragedy in Newtown, Conneticutt, U.S.A., there have been waves of anger and sorrow washing over us all. Young and old. Rich and poor. Believer and non-believer. Pain spares no one its icy grip; it holds us ransom with vice-like shackles. The world over, we are united in our grief. And …
We sit, huddled tightly together in the cramped space of a corner. The blinds are darkly drawn, the door is shut. Locked. Little bodies press in close together to the wall. I place my body as a barrier along the tips of their tiny feet, all the while smiling into anxious children’s eyes and modelling …
So. Son thinks his folks are hill-billies (which he equates with being cheap, I might add). And he calls [one of us in particular, and it’s not me…] this over and over. And as a dear friend said to me tonight, I guess we could be called worse names. However, I guess the jokes on …
Driving down a street in Summerside, P.E.I. today, I realized that the way you drive says a lot about who you are and what you do. For instance, I was idling behind a vehicle driven by a woman who I could just tell was a teacher. We were both lined up at a crosswalk, and …
I wrote the following in response to my son relaying a few comments made to him this past week on the school bus. The comments were very subtle, and seemingly innocent. In fact, my son excused the comments as his friends “just being mean.” But I beg to differ. I think these comments are malicious, …