The Kids Aren't Alright
As many of you know, I teach SonDay School. For those of you who are not from around here, 'SonDay' is not a misspelling. None of the churches in my town have enough young families to hold their own Sunday Schools, so this is a community effort that takes place Wednesdays after school. I was conned into teaching the K-2nd grade class.
Now, teaching SonDay School is much easier said than done. When approached, my response was instantaneous: "Sure! Sounds like fun!" I quickly discovered that teaching is, in fact, work. I had this image of my friend and I surrounded by little angels reciting platitudes of faith and love for us. I do get the love, but my children are far from angelic. What 5-year-old is?
I never imagined that I would be in a situation where "No sitting under the table" would be an essential rule. I discovered that it is possible to fit 5 children on my lap -- and I'm not all that big! My students have fun vying for the position of taller than the teacher. This doesn't take much. I have cleaned up juice spills, seperated wrestling matches, participated in wrestling matches, and held crying kids -- all before class started!
One day, a little blonde girl who talks incessantly crawled into my lap and burrowed her head in my chest. "Can I tell you a secret?" she whispered. I assured her she could tell me anything, never dreaming of her next sentence. "Can I call you Mommy?"
I didn't know what to do. I mean, I'm obviously not her mom but her mom is never around. The poor girl lives with her grandmother and rarely sees her parents, who are not together (her mother has a new boyfriend every week). I just held her. Later she informed me that if she lived in my family, she would be an angel. All I could think of was, "you already are".
Moments like this make me sentimental, but I cannot forget the less tearjerking times, like when I told the class how much Jesus loves them. Their response was to grab my arms, legs, and neck, kiss me, and babble something like this: "I love you almost as much as Jesus does because nobody can love you as much as Jesus does but if I could I would love you as much as Jesus does. . ." all punctuated with kisses on the arms, Gomez Addams-style. Creepy, huh? One little boy asked if I would marry him. I tried not to laugh as I broke his poor little heart.
There is never a boring day in SonDay School; as a matter of fact, my only regret is that there is not enough Diet Coke in the world to give me the caffeine I need to survive. My kids already attacked me in the hall, psyched about going to SonDay School this afternoon. I can't wait to see what they will come up with today.
Now, teaching SonDay School is much easier said than done. When approached, my response was instantaneous: "Sure! Sounds like fun!" I quickly discovered that teaching is, in fact, work. I had this image of my friend and I surrounded by little angels reciting platitudes of faith and love for us. I do get the love, but my children are far from angelic. What 5-year-old is?
I never imagined that I would be in a situation where "No sitting under the table" would be an essential rule. I discovered that it is possible to fit 5 children on my lap -- and I'm not all that big! My students have fun vying for the position of taller than the teacher. This doesn't take much. I have cleaned up juice spills, seperated wrestling matches, participated in wrestling matches, and held crying kids -- all before class started!
One day, a little blonde girl who talks incessantly crawled into my lap and burrowed her head in my chest. "Can I tell you a secret?" she whispered. I assured her she could tell me anything, never dreaming of her next sentence. "Can I call you Mommy?"
I didn't know what to do. I mean, I'm obviously not her mom but her mom is never around. The poor girl lives with her grandmother and rarely sees her parents, who are not together (her mother has a new boyfriend every week). I just held her. Later she informed me that if she lived in my family, she would be an angel. All I could think of was, "you already are".
Moments like this make me sentimental, but I cannot forget the less tearjerking times, like when I told the class how much Jesus loves them. Their response was to grab my arms, legs, and neck, kiss me, and babble something like this: "I love you almost as much as Jesus does because nobody can love you as much as Jesus does but if I could I would love you as much as Jesus does. . ." all punctuated with kisses on the arms, Gomez Addams-style. Creepy, huh? One little boy asked if I would marry him. I tried not to laugh as I broke his poor little heart.
There is never a boring day in SonDay School; as a matter of fact, my only regret is that there is not enough Diet Coke in the world to give me the caffeine I need to survive. My kids already attacked me in the hall, psyched about going to SonDay School this afternoon. I can't wait to see what they will come up with today.
posted by missdragonfly at 8:58 AM
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