So far so good

 I can't help but compare the beginning of this year to the beginning of last year and there is truly no comparison.  Last year was so hard!  I was freaked out by cancer and getting all the (painful) diagnostic procedures/surgeries done.

And my class was a lot.  I got through by the skin of my teeth and with so much prayer!

Yesterday was just pleasant.  A boy shyly brought me this:

Another boy meekly came and told me at the beginning of the day that he didn't have a pencil.

I told him it was in the white basket inside his desk.

He went back to his desk and returned later to tell me he didn't have a pencil.

I went and looked in his desk and his desk was completely empty!  I don't know how I didn't notice that.  I felt sheepish for sending him back to his desk the first time.

The AC is working splendidly.  My students are sweet and well-behaved.  We had fun together and they were nervous, but I did manage to make a few of them laugh.  I read them two books. I can already see that some of them are really chatty, but nothing a little desk rearrangement can't fix, or at least temporarily fix.  Some kids will just chat with anyone.

At the end of the day a boy picked up his lunch bag and it wasn't after all his lunch bag (turned out it belonged to a first grader).  It was unzipped and there was a cascade of a barely touched pizza lunchable.  Basically there was grated cheese confetti.  Such a mess.  The boy felt really bad and apologized profusely.  He said, "I didn't realize it wasn't zipped up!"

I assured him it was OK.  A scatter of grated cheese at the end of the day is not too bad for collateral damage.

When I left school, I told Matt that without some of my friends from last year's class, I feel like I am on vacation.

He said, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch!"

And I guess that is good advice, but I am happy so far.

My throat is sore from talking so much, but that happens every year.  It takes about a week for my vocal cords to get accustomed to constant use.

I really wish I could talk to my mom.  I always used to check in with her about school and tell her about my first day.  She would always tell me that I was an amazing teacher and my students were so lucky to have me.  She never saw me teach, so she really has no idea what kind of teacher I am, but that's the kind of mother she was.  She always thought her kids were the best at anything we tried.  

I miss her.