I’m not even going to write a caption for this one. Use your imagination.
Just before the holiday break, amongst the multiple prayer intentions for “Christmas,” one
of my girls sweetly prayed “for all those with cancer or Read the rest of this entry
princess (Photo credit: hudsonthego)
One of my students enlisted me one recess to be her “scribe.” “Sit down, and write what I say.” I pretended to pull out a scroll, as the girl gazed off in the distance, pondering the correct wording for the message to her mother. Obviously having been enlightened, she turned to me, pointed a finger at the pretend scroll, motioning for me to write, and said, “Dear Mother,” she began, Read the rest of this entry
playground equipment–untattooed (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When we moved, I enrolled my children at a private school known for its rigorous academics and discipline. I was eager for them to make a good impression, but when my mother called after their first week to inquire how my children were doing, I said, “Oh, you mean the cheat, the forger, and the vandal?”
I got a call from the principal or a teacher nearly every day that week. First was Read the rest of this entry
“Let’s all draw some things that remind us of home,” one student proposed one day. “I’m going to draw a pink flamingo.”
Teaching a lesson, prior to being hired for the kindergarten position, I was passing out chalk to the students for a lesson activity, and after setting it on the desk of one of the boys, he looked up at me and said emphatically, “I love you.”
Talking to one of the 3rd graders one day, I asked him how his year was going. He said to me, “Oh, it’s going okay. I’ll be really glad when we’re done with fractions, though.” I nodded understandingly, “Tough, huh?” Without missing a beat he said, “Well, not exactly, but they make my parents fight.”
When I was a kid, I got in trouble almost daily. I often was sent home from school with notes from the teacher, informing my parents about my latest crimes. One day, I had to deliver a note to my parents from my fifth grade teacher that stated I was constantly disrupting her class and bothering the teacher. My dad looked at me and said, “So, Bud, why are you bothering the teacher?”
I passionately proclaimed my innocence: “Dad, it isn’t ME who bothers the teacher. It’s Read the rest of this entry
During our morning saint of the day lessons, my class would often try to think up reasons to raise their hands for questions completely unrelated, as it was the beginning of the day and there was always news to share from the previous day. In an attempt to keep us on task one day, I asked one of my girls who had her hand raised if her question was about our saint of the day. She assures me that it is. “Alright, what is you question then?” She obviously had not quite thought through how she was going to approach this Read the rest of this entry
During a sharing of the story of George Washington and the apple tree, I paused and asked my students, when we came to the word ‘hatchet’: “Does anyone know what a hatchet is?” One of my girls, ever eager to share, raised her hand, Read the rest of this entry
Motherhood and Martial Arts 