Uh oh

Just when you think your kids are getting it you hand a book to one and he says "hey, you gave me one that's upside down."

Aw - I love him just a little

I have a new crush. Three of them actually. Brady, James, and Don Juan. Most of my boys are pretty affectionate this year. These three are probably the most affectionate students I've ever had. I love them.

Brady. Every day Brady tells me he loves me. I'll be sitting somewhere and he'll just come over and hug me and tell me he loves me. Multiple times a day. He'll also say (at random times) "I like your shoes" (dress, shirt, bracelet... whatever).

James. Brady started it but James followed. He also tells me he loves me every day. He also brings presents. He brought me a bracelet yesterday.

Don Juan. We went on a field trip today. We saw Little Mermaid at Kingsbury Hall. It's normal for my students to hold my hand when we're walking (all three boys were holding my hand/arm) while walking to the theatre. However, Don Juan is the first student to try to hold my hand while watching a performance of any kind.

How can I not love going to work?

I blame you

Adam came to school sick today. I've already sent him home twice in the last two weeks. I even (accidentally) lysol-ed him last week after he hacked all over a book he'd been reading. He was back this morning. He walked in looking like death. His mom called about ten minutes after the bell rang - she's really worried about him and didn't want him to go to recess. I told her that if he is really sick (sounds like he spent some time in the hospital over the weekend) she needs to keep him home (reasonable right?). She kept telling me he was fine and if he was still sick tomorrow she'd keep him home. All this time he's sitting with his head down crying. After I hung up with her I walked him down to the office to let him lay down while the principal called his mom. Halfway down the hallway he puked. Big. He tried to stop it with his hand (we all know how well that works). He made it a few more steps to the bathroom before throwing up again (with me yelling at him to throw up in the toilet not the sink).

Seriously - your kid is sick. He looks sick. He acts sick. Please keep him home. I don't want to be sick and I don't want the other 18 kids in my class to be sick. Sorry if you have to take the day off. He's your responsibility.

I was still kind of bugged about all this when I stopped at the grocery story on the way home. It wasn't helped by watching a mom let her little kid grab a tomato, put it in his mouth, bite it and then drop it on the ground. And then put it back. Buy the damn tomato. The kid is your responsibility. No one wants your germs.

I blame these two moms for all the illness going around. All of it.

Love Notes

This is Brady's journal entry for the day. It says "_____ is my friend and I likes. Her is beautiful." I wish I'd waited until he was finished with his picture before taking this photo. He drew himself playing Rockband and singing some song for her with the lyrics "Baby, oh Baby, oh Baby." In the picture she was crying. He snuck it into her cubby before going home. Awwww....

Christopher is back

Today I learned that Christopher (remember my favorite kid from last year?) thinks I'm hot and would totally marry me if I wasn't so old. And apparently he likes the way I look in my jeans. Yikes.

Things that make me happy

I am loving this year. Even though I don't have as many funny stories this year as last year. My kids are much more age appropriate (although I have heard more swearing this year than other years. I never seem to catch the incident but six year olds do not edit their tattles.) I am loving them. They are so sweet.

Two things that make me happy in my job:

1. Kid work. I rarely start a school year with things hanging on my walls. I love displaying the things my kids make. Here are some of the things currently hanging in my classroom.

2. Listening to my kids figure out the English language. I have one student that I especially love to listen to. A few of my favorite phrases "Oh! I love she's shoes." "It's bunches of hot outside." "I asked (ask-ded) her." ("ask-ded" is not the funniest example but I love the "ed" ending they still put on words. Seriously - someone should teach these kids English.)

So maybe they're not as funny but they are easily just as cute. Probably even cuter. Come visit sometime.

I lik you

A word my kids can always read but never spell is the word "like." We practice this word often. We spell it often. It doesn't matter. When my kids write independently they misspell it. Sometimes it makes sense:

(for those that don't read six year old I'll translate: "I lick icecream." Although my favorite part of this writing is the next sentence, "I gots 21 cents dollars.")

Sometimes it makes the story that much more awesome:

(Translation: "I kist Ingrid in the lips. She liks me." No kidding she licked you if you kissed her "in" the lips. Yeah, we're still working on that whole "in" and "on" thing.)