Pay It Forward

I recently ran a fundraiser in my school for a student who has cancer. The fundraiser was called Lolligrams. It involved purchasing a Valetine’s card with a lollipop. My class and two other classes would then deliver these Valentine’s to whoever you wished your Valentine to be delivered to. I’ve done this Lolligram fundraiser many times in the past. It is such a terrific way to get kids involved in doing something for someone else. The kids love sending the Valentine’s & they love delivering them to the classrooms. But, this time, for me, it was different! It hit me personally, in the past when I’ve done the fundraiser, I felt for the families, I wanted to be able to help, I wanted to do “something” b/c well, I just could not imagine what it was like to have your child sick, to sit by their bedside and wish & hope for them to get better! However, this time I knew. This time, I knew that raw pain, the gut wrenching, tear your gut out pain that goes with having your child lay in a hospital bed & you are absolutely helpless to do anything about it. This time I knew what will lay ahead for this family, what comes after you get your child home, how when you think life just may start to be normal again, & bam, your thrust into another medical crisis & the roller coaster ride of no sleep, laying in hospital chairs, waiting for answers awaits you. I know how you begin to operate on automatic pilot, how on the outside you look like you have it all together & yet on the inside you can’t keep your thoughts together, nothing makes sense, you seem to forget everything & it is hard sometimes to remember even what “normal” was. Soon those mounting medical bills come in, you begin to make the phone calls to the insurance company, to countless people they transfer you to, who say, I’m sorry, you will have to speak to so & so, they can help you, but then so & so says, “I’m so sorry, I can’t help you, I will transfer you!” & before you know it, you’ve been on the phone for 3 hrs, spoken to 3 people & gotten no where! It is for these reasons this fundraiser was so important to me, it was for these reasons that it was so emotional to me watching all the kids beaming faces making those deliveries on Valentine’s Day! We have had such tremendous, loving support while we have put the pieces back together after my son’s accident. Life is not the same, it is different, it is hard, some days, it is even a nightmare. However, I will NEVER forget the love, the kindness, the compassion that was shown to our family & is still shown to us as we are still on this journey back to recovery. It is my goal each & everyday to pay it forward. We are part of a club I don’t wish anyone to be a part of, however, I won’t let anyone travel that road alone, so I will do what it takes, Lolligrams, 5k runs, midnight dashes to the ER, whatever, just so someone knows, they are not alone, kindness travels, pay it forward! I promise to continue to reach out, it is what makes getting through the days better…

Hugs,

Valentine’S Day

Today is Valentine's Day. I'm excited. I'm excited not for the flowers, not for the candy, not for the cards. Sure, I like cards, I LOVE flowers & I especially LOVE chocolate, but those are not the things that bring me the excitement. I'm excited because I teach Kindergarten & through their eyes, Valentine's Day will be like Christmas to them. They will open up each Valentine & exclaim with excitement over who sent it to them, & will rejoice in the fact that this Valentine came with a tattoo or a sticker! Through the eyes of a five year old commercialism has not begun to touch their world. They are not aware of anything else. They are so caught up in the pure joy & excitement of opening each & every single card. The excitement of being able to read the names of their classmates, when just a few short weeks before they may not have been able to read them! Today was Valentine's Day, I hope everyone had as much fun as I did! I sure did. Happy Valentine's Day!
Hugs,

See Something, Say Something

Recently while reading a facebook post on a page that is dedicated to parents in my home school district, I read something that just completely horrified. It horrified me on so many levels! The post was about a young student, a middle school student that had tried committing suicide during school hours. The post was by one parent & the horror she felt over this incident. This parent’s horror was not sympathy for this poor young soul, this horror was about things that made me stop & ask myself if I was not living on a foreign planet. When did we stop being compassionate? The replies that ensued only horrified me even more. The more I read, the more upset I got! I just could not believe what I was reading. Parents commenting on what they were so upset about. They blamed this poor child’s parents for what happened, a child they did not even know. How they felt the school district was responsible. That the teachers must be held responsible after all b/c this child would not have done this at the school if the school was not somehow at fault. The more I read, the angrier I got, the more I read, the more I felt like, am I crazy? I must be missing something? Why isn’t anyone as upset as I am? No one seems to be bothered by all this? No one is writing back to all these comments…I finally read the page to my husband who was, thankfully, as horrified as I was! Ok, reality, I was not living in another land, I was not crazy, he was as upset as I was! I then sat down to compose my answer. By the time I returned to the page, the commentary had turned from this poor unfortunate child’s suicide attempt to drug use & drinking in the schools. It has now resorted to referring to these children as “degenerates”! “What”??? By this point my blood was boiling & you guessed it, no one said a thing!! Back to writing a response! It took me a bit to write a response, a well thought out response that did not reflect my anger, but my sadness that as parents of children how careful we need to be in not resorting to judging other children & calling them names. While I understand a parent’s fear when you hear that drugs are appearing in your children’s schools, I understand the fear when you hear that a young child, a child who is the same age as your child is so depressed that he/she feels that they have no other options but to end their lives…but I must ask you to now walk in that child’s parents shoes, imagine what it must have felt like to get that phone call, to have to run to the hospital, to hear about what is happening in your precious child’s life! I wrote to these parents asking them to think about their own children, asking them how they would feel if it was their child who was struggling with depression or drug abuse & someone who does not even know them referred to them as a degenerates, how would it feel? Not so nice I bet now would it? We are our children’s role models, we are their first teacher’s, we lead by example. We should not judge these children, we do not know what their struggles are. While I understand the fear, I understand & respect that you do not like these children’s choices, you don’t have to! But, you do need to teach your child tolerance, love & respect! If we all did that, we would have so many kids feeling less stress, less depression & perhaps more children would feel that they had other options, they might not choose drugs, they might choose options to stay alive rather than choose suicide b/c they would know that they had people who loved & respected them! My response got lots of commentary, it is what I expected, but it was not the commentary I expected, I expected to get lots of negativity, but most people said, “Thank You!” It was a small thing, but you need to speak up, speak up even if you know what you have to say might not be popular….see something, say something! You just never know, you might be surprised like I was!
Hugs,

What Slicing Means To Me

My slice is about the slice itself & how grateful I am for it. Before I started my slice today, I was reading & commenting on other slices. One slice I read instantly brought me back to when my son was little. It is for this reason & well so many others that I LOVE slicing each week. I have met such kind, compassionate, dedicated & sweet educators that keep me coming back each week. I love to read what others are doing in their classes, I love to hear what others are struggling with in their classes, how others are approaching things we are facing in education. This is an amazing group of people & I am thankful for this opportunity each week for the glimpse into each person's world & for the opportunity to receive feedback on what I say. The feedback I receive is invaluable & means the world to me! Thank you slicers! I'm off to read more slices!
Hugs,

Snowmen..

I'm teaching Kindergarten this year, oh my gosh five year olds say & do the darndest things. We've been planning, wishing for, dancing & reading all about snow & snowmen. The day we had hoped for had arrived! We spent Friday going back & forth watching the weather report. Yup! There was snow in the forecast & boy were we excited. We read the book, "Snow Dance." I had purchased a snowman building kit, we wrote How-To's on building a snowman. We even did our very own snow dance. We were ready & now it was all up to mother nature to make our wishes come true! When putting my student's on the bus Friday afternoon I wished them a great weekend & reminded them, don't forget to hope for snow tomorrow & bring your snow gear to school on Monday!
Over night the storm snuck in quietly & I awoke to beautiful white blanket of snow all over my car, trees, lawn etc! Wahoo! I was so excited, just wish I was in school today to share this excitement with my students. I immediately jumped out of bed & ran for my camera in case some of my student's were missing out on this white splendor! Monday just wouldn't be here quick enough...I could just feel their excitement as they entered the room Monday morning! One of my English language learners walks in, big smile on his face & rushes up to me. I can feel his excitement, I can't wait to hear what he has to say about the snowstorm, I wonder did he go sledding, did he make a snowman? snowangel? snowballs? He is giddy with excitement, Mrs. P, Mrs. P, Mrs P, I'm answering & he does not even hear me, Yes, S, yes, what are you so excited about? He whips off his hat & says, "LOOK...no more hair, I have bugs!" Yup...I teach Kindergarten & I JUST LOVE THEM because you never know what they are going to say...& by the way, we did get to make our snowman, thankfully before it rained & took away all the snow! Not sure who was more excited, me or them? I think it might have been me.....which is why I should continue to teach Kindergarten because it is just so much fun!
Hugs,

Making 2012 a Great Year…

I promised myself that this year, 2012 I would make more time for the things that bring me joy and pleasure. This past year was very crazy, very draining on me & time just flew by too fast. Quite frankly, a blur. I have noticed that I am having a hard time remembering things. My memory is going, could be my age, yes, but I think it is that too much stuff, too much stress & not enough of doing things that are good for me. SO I decided that I needed to make some changes in my life in order to de-stress me, I decided it was time to write more and find more time to do the things I love. I wanted to make more time for reading, running and my crafts. I did find some time to get to the store and buy some fabric. I was very excited about picking out fabric. I did download some books that have been on my list to read, but I have yet to begin to read them. Every night since the last day I ran, December 26^th, I lay out my clothes for the gym, but the alarm goes off & I shut it off. I have tried leaving running quotes on my phone, reminders on my phone, motivational blogs are in my reader, I even put new songs on my I-pod, all things to motivate & excite me, I have all good intentions & yet, I still have not gotten to the gym. So, today I decided, I will write about my intentions, I will blog about them, I will make a calendar of my intentions, as well as a calendar of my workouts, Something that I will look at & will hold me more accountable, a schedule that I will need to fit in my life. I need to "schedule" in the things I like otherwise other silly things will get in the way & I will not get to the things I truly love to do! Here it goes, I've written it down…..I hope this works!
Hugs,

Elves, Reindeer, OH MY!

Elves, Reindeer, Christmas music, Christmas movies are all around & while I love all of these things, in Kindergarten they tend to lead to complete brain drain! How do you entertain 26 five year olds 3 weeks before Christmas? I have so much to teach...I've planned lots of fun things, but keeping their attention, keeping them even focused on the fun things is an exercise in futility! OH MY! Today, truthfully felt like the first few weeks of school! What do I do next? I've brought in the Elf on the Shelf! Even the Elf was at a loss today! OH MY! Tomorrow is Wednesday, half-way through the week. I think I will be working in small increments till December 23rd!
Hugs,