One Day at a Time

Today was one of those days when I felt so stressed out, I cried.

Sometimes, when students had a rough day, I allow them to let it all out. But, then they must come up with at least two good things that happened to them on the same day.

One of the things I had to deal with at work, which has been ongoing since the beginning of the school year, is dealing with the noise in the hallways after the bell has rung. Then, gently I encourage the students to get into their classrooms. Sometimes, I feel being gentle does not do the trick and I become the ogre I dread turning into. Today, some girls were shrieking in the washroom and I had to call them out because other classes were in session, plus my office happened to have the honour of directly facing the washroom entrances. Ever see clowns pile out of a mini car? FOURTEEN girls came piling out of the girls' washroom.

"Why are there so many of you? There are only three stalls in there! And why were you screaming? Is your hair on fire?"
Their excuse? "We were just changing out of/into our PE clothes." And of course, there were a lot of "I wasn't the one who was screaming" going around.

I know they were just trying to have fun, but there's a time and a place for everything. As much as I think these girls, who have been spoken to several times previously about moving and talking around the school in lower decibels, need to take responsibility for their actions, I do think that part of my issue has to do with their teachers who stay inside their classrooms while their students run amok in the hallways. And as much as I would like to ask these teachers to speak to their students about respecting others, I don't think that would really work and I don't want to complain unless I had more viable solutions to offer.

Anyway, here are the two good things that happened:

1) There is one particular Grade 6 boy I got the privilege of knowing this year. He is almost always cheerful and his amusing curiosity never fails to make me laugh. His delight in something quite simple really made my day.

He came into my office, all flustered (as he usually is) because he wanted some help in completing an assignment. It turned out to be a crossword puzzle and he needed a five-letter answer for one of the remaining clues he had. Eventually, we found out the answer in an atlas: Omaha. When he found out, he just stared at me with amazement before breaking into a huge grin.

"O--MA--HA?!?"
I laughed at his expression. "Yes, the answer is Omaha."
"OMAHA!!!!" And he giggled. Then, he doubled over with laughter before writing down the answer. Then he bowed to me multiple times, all the while repeating his thanks over and over and laughing. He was so grateful to have found the answer, but I still don't quite know why he was laughing so hard over it. After he left, an overwhelming silence filled my office, the same kind of silence one would hear in the theatre after the last vibration of a violin ebbs. I couldn't help, but smile myself. How awesome a child's laughter is.

2) I'm still alive...
... to hear a child laugh
... to savour each delicious morsel of food that my husband prepared for me
... to seize another day