Thursday, September 04, 2008

My First Day of School

So, yesterday was my first day in 5th and 6th grade. Teaching it, that is. Last Sunday I got to meet all the kids at a picnic. Here's a conversation I had with one of them:

Boy: Hello Mrs. Green, I'd like to bake you a cake.
Me: Oh Joe (let's just call him that), that is so nice of you.
Boy: Um, but what is your favorite flavor?
Me: Strawberry.
Boy: Do you like whipped cream or vanilla frosting?
Me: Vanilla frosting.
Boy: Good choice.

Then he walks away. Yesterday around lunchtime, the secretary said she had something for me. She takes me to the teacher lounge and opens a bag. There is my cake! Joe really did bake me a cake, and it said "Welcome Mrs. Green" on it, with a green shamrock on it. Today we ended school early and all the kids (there are only 30 or so) got a piece of cake. Joe came to give me the first piece of cake, and it toppled off the plastic plate onto the ground. Joe reaches down with his very grubby hand, grabs the piece of cake and smooshes it onto my plate, then hands it back to me. "Here you go," he says. I then had to have a talk with him about when things drop on the ground, you shouldn't eat them, or more importantly, give them to someone else to eat.

Wasn't that sweet though? Joe is cute. He isn't even in my class and he made me a cake. We'll see how nice he is to me in math - I'll be his teacher for that.

All in all, after a lot of tears and anxiety, the first day is over. So many things are happening in my life right now - mostly all wonderful things, but it brings a lot of stress. I do find rest in knowing that God has me right where He wants me to be, though.