spc: going, going...
i went in yesterday to make
sure the new teacher
felt comfortable with
the routine of the shorties' day.
she had written a beautiful
morning messsage in
bright, welcoming colors.
she conducted the
morning circle with ease.
i quietly packed up
my pictures and
notes from five years
of shortie-love.
i put the piggy-bank
that the shorties started
to fill for our son's
college tuition in my bag,
gathered all of the cute
baby clothes and blankets
that the parents brought me,
and closed the door behind me.
my girls from last year caught me
at the front door as they were leaving the gym.
tears.
"don't leave us."
"don't go."
making me feel very loved yet
also like the biggest jerk ever
as we stood there with our
arms around each other.
i left this place of
learning and laughter,
celebration and collaboration,
that i have seen each morning for five years.
i left behind the last six weeks of school
and drove home to my new life.
as lou reed sings,
"this is the beginning of a
great adventure..."
this month's self portrait challenge
is to reveal your environment.
Your new "teacher to student" ratio is going to go through the roof! What is it, like, 1:1?
ReplyDelete:)
And your new adventure will be beyond compare!
ReplyDeleteMan this is beautiful, pure and simple love in their faces. I'm excited for this next chapter of your life girlfriend and excited to meet your boy. xo
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing! I know leaving must have been difficult but yes, this adventure takes a another vibrant path! Cheers to you!
ReplyDeleteYou'd think I'd know by now that I should be prepared to cry every time I visit your blog. Happy and sad tears all at the same time! You make me miss teaching!
ReplyDeleteHere's to your new adventure! And here's to your very lovely shorties. ;)
What a testimony to the amazing person and teacher you are. You're going to make a great mother.
ReplyDeleteI'm a stranger, I'll admit it. I stumbled my way here by luck. Your first post I read brought tears to my eyes. You seem like a wonderful person. I wish you the best of luck and love with your new baby.
ReplyDeleteGULP - that couldn't have been easy, Mama.
ReplyDeleteBut here's to time with your son and shifting your tremendous love towards him.
That must have been hard to do, melancholy momma.
ReplyDeleteBut you are taking so many amazing memories with you. Look at all that love!
I can't wait to meet the newest shortie!
Vx
i kept coming back to leave a comment but words failed me and the swelling up of tears and smiles was a little much. (yes, i am overly emotional these days)
ReplyDeleteyou are an amazing teacher,yuor warmth comes through your every word here. your little guy is coming into a wonderful life :)
we miss you
ReplyDeletexoxo
This brought tears... I had lunch yesterday with a friend who's leaving to take a job at another school...and as we walked back into school after lunch off-campus, hugging each other once more...we kept saying how it (her leaving) didn't seem real. We worked on so many activities together the past two years. You have been such a gift to those children's lives, Kathleen...I can only begin to imagine what an extraordinary mother you're going to be.
ReplyDeleteI know how hard it must have been to say good bye to them. You will be missed terribly because there is only one YOU! But, they will understand - especially when they see you with your little one!
ReplyDeleteoh mama. you are such a love. wait til you meet your boy.
ReplyDeletei am so excited for you. you're really going to love being a mother.
xo
Okay... I found this post way too late, but I loved it and therefore am commenting nevertheless. I just left my teaching job, too, after eight years at the same school (with third graders in the Bronx), and this post has me aching to be back with my kids. I wish you well with all of the changes that you'll be facing, and thank you for reminding me with this post that I need to look for a job in education now that I've moved (and I thought I needed a break)!
ReplyDelete