Grateful Friday

I'm grateful for connection.

I'm grateful for the secretaries who stop what they're doing to chat with me when I go in the office.

I'm grateful for fellow teachers who have to share a wacky story and want to hear my wacky story.  (We all have wacky stories.  Every day.)

I'm grateful for a young woman who dropped off cookies and a really kind note thanking me for being her YW president. (So out of the blue and so nice!)

I'm grateful for texts from my kids.  Funny texts, texts asking questions, texts bragging about some random accomplishment.  I love every text.

I'm grateful for a date night with Adam and for my friend Susan who invited us.  It was a dinner theater and we sat at a table with people we'd never met.  They had three children about the same age as ours and we had a nice time getting to know them.

I'm grateful for hugs from my students.

I'm grateful for every time I hear some version of, "Oh!  I get it!"

I'm grateful for the third grader from a different class who came to my class instead of his own to have his shoe tied at the end of recess.  I asked, "Did you know I'm an expert at this?"

He asked, surprised, "No, are you?"

I said, "Yep!"

He grinned and I told him to go to class.

I'm grateful when my blend of pantomime and key words results in my non English speaking student understanding me.

I'm grateful every time my last year's students come find me to introduce their kindergarten brother, to tell me about their recent birthday or to ask me how third grade is going this year.

Don't believe the hype about our divided country.  There is a lot of connection too.