From the Hearts of My Kiddies to Yours

EDIT: THIS IS A BELATED POST I WROTE BACK IN NOVEMBER BUT NEVER GOT TO PUBLISH. ENJOY! 

For FUN FRIDAY today, we decided to write cards to our neighbors & friends affected by hurricane Sandy. Specifically, the kiddies wrote to families in Staten Island. I will be volunteering all day in Staten Island tomorrow, "gutting out" houses that have been damaged by Sandy.

After a brief mini lesson on writing a letter/card, the kiddies got to work. I could tell they were really excited because they looked so happy as they wrote and decorated their individual cards. You would think that maybe 7-8 year olds wouldn't fully understand the concept of  being there for one another but from the beautiful cards they created, it's evident that even their little hearts broke for our friends and neighbors in Staten Island.

Whether you're in Staten Island, New York City, or anywhere else in the world.... and if you've lost something or someone, I hope that the these cards will give you hope and courage through whatever difficult time you are going through. Specifically, if you were affected by hurricane Sandy.

Prayers for Tom

"Tom"
A bright, cheerful, brown eyed, 8 year old in my class this year.
He is one of our greatest helpers in the room.
Interested in history, writing, and helping others.
Always full of smiles and very, VERY, mature for his age.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit his mom in the hospital.
Tom's mom has been battling cancer for a couple of months now.
What started off as breast cancer has now metastasized to the brain.
She was undergoing chemo however, has become too weak to continue with
treatment.

For the last month or so, she's been just trying to regain her health so that the treatment
can continue. At this point, she isn't doing so well and the family is hoping for a miracle.

As I sat in the hospital room, looking at her fragile body, hoping and praying for her recovery,
Tom walked up to his sleeping mom and tapped her nose with his glove covered fingers.

He then looked over at me and said, "This button used to work."

Right then and there, my heart broke for Tom.
As a 7 year old, I wondered how he was making sense of this whole situation.
Tom's father already had a conversation with him telling him that mommy may not make it through this.

I wondered if he truly knew what that meant.

Despite the circumstances and his young age, Tom is optimistic.
He is still staying bright and cheerful.
I know for sure that Tom is trying hard to stay strong for his mom.

Right before winter break started last Friday,
Tom wrote in his writing notebook, "If I could have 3 wishes, I would wish for my mom to get better and come out of the hospital so that we can spend Christmas together as a family."

At a mere 8 years old, Tom has taught me that we must not lose hope in unfortunate circumstances like this one.

Looking at his situation, I am reminded that...
(warning~ I may sound like a hallmark card but this is truly how I feel)

~Life is precious yet fragile. Circumstances can change in an instant.
~Nothing is promised tomorrow. I wonder if we truly grasped the fact that nothing is promised tomorrow, if we would continue to live out our lives chasing after such temporary things?

If you had the opportunity to read this post,
I hope that you can pray for Tom's mom and his family.
That she may regain her health.
That they may stay strong and not lose hope.

Bandaid for a Teacher's Soul

As a teacher, there are days when you just want to drop dead on the floor out of frustration.
I'm sure these days exist for all kinds of jobs.

The reasons behind this desire to drop dead on to the floor can vary for all teachers. However, for me, the following reasons pretty much sum up why I would like to just drop kick teaching in the gut sometimes:

-administration (from time to time, they like to throw complete curve balls at teachers that leave us baffled, confused, and plain angered)

-the children (I love them to death but they do drain the life out of you)

-parents (as much as I've met my fair share of WONDERFUL and SUPPORTIVE parents, I've also met a couple of the EXACT opposite)

-myself (just having one of those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days)

Today was one of those particularly frustrating days which derived from a combination of factors mentioned above. As I was trying to go about my day with my kiddies, one of my students walks up to me and hands me a note (just to clarify: today was the first day I returned to work after taking a week off for church missions).


As soon as I received this note from my student, the frustration I've been feeling all morning simply dissipated. It was like a magical band aid to my wound. I realize that it's just a piece of paper with a simple drawing of a heart which probably took the student five minutes to make.

However, his thought, love, and motive behind the act was just what I needed to remind me of
why I deal with administration even when they want to give me a huge headache.
why I fell in love with teaching in the first place.

There is no greater band aid to a teacher's wound than that of a child's love.