Life Lesson #2

May 20, 2009

Things I don't want to do as a mom or a step mom...


This week I have bike duty--meaning I stand outside and yell at the kids that are riding their bikes or scooters and tell them to get off. It's a liability thing--so I get to do it in the morning and the afternoon...

Well, this afternoon, there was a 3rd grade child outside. It was his birthday apparently. A little info on this tells me he has two moms--real mom and step mom. They are in competition to try and win boy's love. Anyway--both mom's brought treats to school today--but one mom brought this huge balloon bouquet! It had a couple of Mylar balloons on it and about 15 helium filled balloons. Boy is walking out after school with his balloons to get on scooter to ride home. I sensed disaster immediately. I commented to little boy that the balloons might carry him and his scooter away...

A few minutes later--he is down the sidewalk...screaming. Literally throwing a tantrum. He had lost hold of his balloons....he later was in the office having a fit about it as well...

Note to self--do not buy child birthday balloon bouquet unless I plan to be there to pick him up as well...

Poor birthday for that guy...

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

Monday, May 18, 2009

Today I was working on writing a tongue twister with my class...we pick a students name each day and write words that start with that same letter in a sentence... (i.e. Marvelous Miss Merritt makes muffins on Monday for mom.).

For legality sakes and safety of my students, lets call this student Bob. We had to write B words about Bob.

The dialogue went something like this...

A little boy raised his hand and said, "We could write 'bling-bling' on the board."
Miss Merritt: Do you even know what bling is?
Boy: Yeah--the black guys wear it and it's big gold jewlery.
Miss Merritt: Ok...how do you feel about that Bob?
Bob: Ok.
Miss Merritt: We need a describing word for Bob. What word can we use for Bob?
A little girl: Brother
Miss Merritt: Yeah...we could use that. How do you feel about that Bob? Brother Bob?
Bob: I don't have a brother.
A different little girl: No--it could be like a brutha from anotha motha...
Miss Merritt: That is right, it could--probably someone that wears bling would say that...

Anyway--by this point I'm laughing in my head and the kids are laughing too...

Bob ended up picking something totally different though: Boss Bob brings bikes to basketball.

Another successful day in 1st grade.

Dear Parent #1

As I go from day to day teaching--I have instances of things I see that I wish not to repeat as a parent. So--I'm creating this section called, "Dear Parents, " to help me remember some of the crazy things not to do as a parent someday...if I get there...

BTW--This isn't me trying to become an expert on parenting--this is me just watching other people's mistakes and hoping I can learn from them--although I can bet you I will make a ton of my own!

I have been pondering all day about an issue I have at school this year involving one of my students. This student is a sweet girl and I'm guessing watches and listens to her parents very closely. The current status of the economy has hit a lot of people and families really hard out here and I know several people who are out of employment. Each day though, we'll call her Josie (*changed for safety of student and me...) comes to school and updates myself and the class on her family's current economic status. The first one I remember was, "All I have in my lunch today is a sandwich because my dad lost his job and we are eating our food storage." (Partially not true that all she had was the sandwich--we have snack recess everyday, and she eats a good portion of her lunch then...)

The other day it was, "We can't buy these pictures because my dad has lost his job, but he said he'll take some of me for free."

But, every day--I hear something about her families situation and that they can't buy things or her dad still hasn't found work. Josie is 7 years old and this is causing her concern. So much that she carries it all day at school. And it worries her.

As a parent, I hope that I can worry about my finances in an appropriate manner so my child doesn't become paranoid about it--easier said than done, I know. But, sometimes I wonder if parents really know what their students tell me at school. And sometimes I wonder--how concerned should I be...I can pray for them!