St. Patrick meets Halloween

Living in Salem has it's perks. We are the Halloween capital of the world. Sure we have to deal with crazy traffic through the entire month of October, but our neighborhoods are taken over by witches, ghosts and goblins, hedges are covered with cotton spider webs and pumpkins both with and without faces are perched on just about every front porch. It's an adventure in people watching and there is a certain feel and excitement in the air that trickles into our classrooms. It starts in the beginning of October with our annual Haunted Happenings Parade and won't end until the wee hours of the morning on November 1st, All Saints Day, when Salem's Finest start herding the hobgoblins out of the city.

I try to be a good mom and and raise my kids with some kind of belief system. I am a firm believer in believing in something, so I dutifully brought my youngest to church this morning and then like a good mom dropped him off at Sunday School.

Now Halloween does not go unnoticed at Sunday school either. They are very well aware that because Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, children will be showing up to Sunday school with candy hangovers. So to put a little excitement into having to come to Sunday school after a night of reverie and too many peanut butter cups, and double bubble, the children will be allowed to come to Sunday school in costume.

Now keeping in mind that Sunday is All Saints Day the children can not come as Power Rangers, Storm Troopers or Indiana Jones, they must choose a Saint and come dressed as that Saint.

Because my son's name is Patrick his natural choice is, of course, the saint by the same name. Good Old St. P, Patron Saint of Ireland, the Saint of hubby's homeland, the man responsible for the lack of snakes in the land of the leprechaun and the spud.

So in preparation of this, his teacher read a book today about the more common of the saints and the kids had to draw one interesting fact about their chosen saint.

This is Patrick's rendition of his interesting fact...

St. Patrick escapes from the Pirates!!

I'm pretty sure that's Captain Jack Sparrow at the helm.

I'm not entirely sure if this is a true fact or not, but I'm fairly certain the pirates who may have captured Patrick to begin with, weren't flying the Jolly Roger.

Lesson Plans

One of the great things about kids is the fact that they can hang out with another kid for five minutes and suddenly be the best of friends. This is, or rather was the case for two little girlie girls in my class. They sat together in the circle on the first day of school and have been inseparable ever since. But just like in a family when people spend too much time together little irritating things start to creep in. You love each other just the same, but those little things that you love one day can be like a thorn in your side on others.

I could tell things were not good today between "Lucy and Ethel". They were bickering and arguing from the time they walked in to the room this morning, to lunch and recess, to dismissal. The tattling on each other was relentless and at one point it even got a little physical.

"Lucy" has a way of saying just the right thing to get "Ethel" to seethe. I could see the level of frustration growing in Ethel until I turned just at the right time and saw her get right up into Lucy's face and FLIP HER THE MIDDLE FINGER.

My jaw dropped. I dropped the pencil I was holding in my hand. I stood frozen, and then I reacted.

"Ethel, I think you need to come with me."

I took her hand and calmly walked her to the office sat her down in the chair and let our principal know about the offending obscene gesture.

So off I went back to my classroom.

About 20 minutes or so later we were cleaning up for lunch and Mrs. Principal came in with Ethel in tow. She was chuckling to herself while we both watched Ethel walk up to Lucy to offer the most sincere apology she could manage.

I looked at Mrs. Principal and said, "okay, what's so funny."

Laughing she said, "Well, I told her that it was a really nasty thing to do, that it is really really insulting and disrespectful and she should never do it again."

"And...?"

"I asked her where she learned to do that."

"And...?"

She said, "My teacher taught it to me."

I looked at Mrs. Principal and said, "and I suppose you want to see the lesson plan?"

P is for Personality

Seventeen little personalities to be exact, and all unique. Everyday I learn something new about them. Who to separate, who can work together, and who needs to be watched every second!Like my flower child last year, some have special qualities that I just can't ignore. I'd like to introduce to you...

The Reporter

The eyes and ears of my classroom. If it happens, she knows about it. The who. The what. The when. The how. The why. Nothing gets by her. Strangely enough, she is never involved in anything herself, always the innocent bystander.
"Mrs. C, she has the hiccups. He's being mean to that other boy, he has a lego in his pocket I think he's trying to steal it, she spilled her juice on her shirt and it's picture day her mother is going to be really mad, he needs to go the the nurse I think he has a fever..." You get the picture. I love her to pieces, but because of "The Reporter" I had to break out the tattle jar again.

The Comedian

This one is wiser than her five years would suggest. On week two, her mom came to me and said, "Do we need to have a conversation yet?" I just laughed because I knew what she meant, but in reality I love this kind of kid! I can laugh with her because she "gets" me. I even caught her rolling her eyes at me, but it was not in a way that I found disrespectful, it's was more of a "my teacher is a fruit loop, but I love her anyway" kind of way.

She tries to test me to see just how far she can go before I'll call her on it. She likes to get a laugh so if you could fast forward 12 years she just might be that child who has their picture under the heading "class clown" in the year book.

And one of the best things about her is she's a Red Sox fan, she gets that about me too!

The Mouse

She's a lovely little thing, but rarely speaks above a whisper. She has a lot to say, just chooses to say it very very quietly.

Old Yeller

The flip side to The Mouse. He has a lot to say and says it very very loudly!

The Inquisitor

He's the one that has to be in the know, the reasons behind everything...and I do mean EVERYTHING we do. Why is it snack time? Why won't my shoes stay tied? Why is today gym day? Why are apples red? and green? and yellow? Why? Why? Why?

I love his curiosity and I suppose it's his way of discovering the world around him. I try to answer what I can, but sometimes I just have to refer him to The Reporter.

The Pee-er

There is one in every class. The one child who NEEDS to go to the bathroom because "really Mrs. Collins, this time it's an EMERGENCY!" Well who am I to say no, because it will be the one time I do and...well you know.

I really don't mind so much but I am trying to teach them how to ask correctly. For example, I'd much rather hear, "May I go to the bathroom please?" rather than "I really have to poop!"

Little Miss Sunshine

Much like last year's Flower Child, Little Miss Sunshine is just happy to be here on the planet. Her smile could brighten a room. She's sensitive to her friend's needs, feels badly when someone is hurt or sad and does her best to be kind and considerate. She's the child that you just hope does something a little naughty to prove that she can!

A few weeks ago a child in my class fell and broke his arm. Little Miss Sunshine felt so badly she started to cry. I have to admit, I wanted to too. It was scary! But she chose to turn her sad, scary feelings into action and made him an entire book to help him feel better. They don't come much sweeter.

Mr. You've Got to Be Kidding Me

This is the one who thought if he spoke Spanish around me I wouldn't know what he was saying, and to be honest, most of the time I don't!

Sometimes what he says is kind of funny. Like today when he yelled "Hay Diablo!" when another boy knocked over his block tower.

But sometimes he will speak Spanish while in a literacy center or during math games and neither I or most of his friends have any idea what he's saying. I don't mind at all during social times, like out on the playground, or during free choice time, but in school we all need to be understood to everyone.

Well I am by no means fluent, but I know enough to fool even the smarmiest of 5 year-olds I give them just enough to make them THINK. So today when he started speaking Spanish to his math games partner...

Me: "No Espanol en la clase por favor."

Well the look on this little guy's face was priceless.

Him: "You. speak. Spanish?"

I just smiled and walked away.

I do a lot of smiling...it is kindergarten after all!

Inspired

We're all settling in to a new school year and I'm just getting to know my 17 new little kindergarteners. It's been crazy busy. Teaching new routines, finding out what they know, getting to know all their little personalities. It's a fun, but challenging time of the year andmy poor little blog is sitting here neglected, but I'm taking it all in. The inspiration to write will come soon enough. Until then, stay tuned, it should be a very interesting year!

At Summer's End

The signs are everywhere. 

Kids being dragged to the store for new sneakers, backpacks and lunch boxes. Teachers like me are finding their way kicking and screaming to their classrooms, to put away new supplies, dress up the bulletin boards, organize class lists and arrange classroom furniture. 

But the start of school is never so evident as it is in a college town. 

I see it every year as the students start to move in. They gather in front of the dorms with their parents, carrying boxes and milk crates, computers and printers. The streets are suddenly busier and the sidewalks are full of white ear phone wearing, backpack carrying kids heading to class.

This year I'm watching it all with a new perspective because next fall I'll be the one sending one off to college. 

We took two college tours with him this week. I love the feeling of walking around a college campus. The ivy covered brown stones oozed intelligence, the marble staircases gleamed with promise as we climb them to view a lecture hall.  Boston University is a "sexy" school, right in the middle of a bustling city with Fenway Park right around the corner. I know, I know not a reason to choose a school but...

We all followed our tour guide and listened intently to everything she had to say. Actually, not all listened intently. One miserable father who coincidentally was wearing a yankee cap on his head had nothing good to say about anything she showed us. I really think he was just unhappy to be standing in the shadows of THE PAHK.

Our tour ended and as we stood waiting for the train to our next tour destination, the kid looked at me and said,  "I don't think this school is conducive to my learning, it's just too busy." 

Good to know!

We arrived at our next destination. Another big Boston school, but this one felt different. I could actually picture him walking around this campus, going from class to class, living in that dorm room, eating in that dining hall and studying in that library. The more our guide showed us, the bigger the kid's smile got and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was.

I knew for sure when he jumped in the front of the line to rub the nose on the bronze Huskie for luck! "Please let me get in to this school", I heard him say.

I don't know where he'll end up, there are still more tours to take and more mascot noses to rub, but he'll find the right fit because he's a smart boy with a good head on his shoulders. 

So I'll watch him navigate through his senior year, I'll help him with the forms and the applications and I'll edit the essays and when it comes to carry the milk crates I'll do that too and I may even rub a mascot nose or two along the way.

F is for Friend Part 2.

friend -noun A person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.

A pretty basic definition but not really very warm or "friendly". I am really lucky to have the friends I do.

There are my friends like Brenda who I've know forever, or Little who seems to be my best buddy this summer, my mom, Medium and Big (although at 15 and 17, it's not always easy to like them!) and my husband, who is most certainly my best friend.

I have friends that I know because we met on a message board over 9 years ago. We were all pregnant at the same time, all due in August of 2000. Some of them I've met, some I haven't but we have been there to support one another through some pretty rough stuff and also there for each other to celebrate some huge accomplishments. Our "babies" are all turning nine this month and we have grown to be very close friends. They are amazing woman and I'm proud to know them.

I've had people ask me if it's really possible to have real friendships when you've never met the person you're talking to. I know it is possible because I have a more than a few of them. Friends who are moms of boys, and friends I can compete against in a nice "friendly" game of Scrabble.

I have friends that I can be silly with, I have friends that I can have deep conversations with and friends I can tell anything to because I can trust them implicitly.

I have friends that can provide a listening ear and just know when to say, "I understand" because that's all I really need.

I have my work friends that I miss during the summer months. We keep in touch to some extent, but never as much as we say we will. During the school year we are like next door neighbors, waving to each other from across the hall or having a quick conversation during an elevator ride, venting to each other when we've had a particularly rough day and sticking our heads into a classroom door just to smile and say "hello". Over the summer we're all busy doing our own thing which is the way it should be.

Some friendships are difficult and the ones worth keeping are worth the extra effort. But, when does it become too hard? When you're disappointed over and over? When that friend breaks a trust, or just plain makes it too hard to be a friend. I'm not talking about friends that just grow apart for one reason or another, but friends you have to let go of because the friendship stops being healthy. I wonder if people like that were truly friends to begin with?

So although the definition of friend certainly describes what a friend is, it doesn't describe how it feels to have a friend. I know that feeling and for me it comes in many different kinds of people.

I hope each and every one of them knows how important they are to me. I guess this was just my little way of telling them.

F is for Friend

My poor little blog has been sitting here idle for weeks now and day after summer day goes by. We've been out and about doing our summery things, Fenway Park, the beach, ice cream, you name it, we've done it, but none of it is "blog worthy". It's not to say that we haven't had a great summer, we have, but there is only so much you can write about the beach, crickets and sunsets.

I've been waiting for something over-the-top-exciting to happen so I'd have some good writing material.

But sometimes it's not the big things.

Last week I got a message from my friend Brenda. I've known her since high school. We were best friends then, and I can still honestly say she's one of my best friends now.

We don't see each other often, in fact, we rarely get together and the only reason for that is because we are both so busy with kids, work and life in general. She was going to be in the neighborhood and wondered if we should get together.

So we made plans for dinner.

The beauty of our friendship is, we can go for years without seeing each other but still pick up right where we left off. It's natural, it's comfortable and it's real.

We shared so many experiences back then, we had a lot of fun, we laughed a lot, and when we talk about those experiences now, we still laugh most of the time, but sometimes we just roll our eyes and wonder "what were we thinking?" Like the time my car got stuck while we were hiding the bottle of wine we were going to drink later that night, or when we stole the mailbox (who knew it was a federal offense?).

Here we are on our senior class trip to Florida. Those are some sweet wheels. I'm the one driving and I'm fairly certain she is NOT going to be happy with me for posting this little gem!

We had a nice dinner, good conversation, a walk out on the pier and then we parted ways, but with a promise to each other to make sure we do this again and soon.

I think we all have made promises like that in the past and life inevitably happens and gets in the way of the best intentions.

This time, I am going to do my best to keep that promise. "Keep your girlfriends close" I heard someone say recently. So although Brenda and I have a lot of memories from our past, I think it's time we make some new memories too.