From the Mouth of Babes

After a recent bout of unemployment I managed to find a job that I am enjoying quite a bit. I have become a para-educator at an elementary school near my home. A school coincidentally that I went to during my formative years. I have learned a lot about kids that I didn't know before. First is that everything for them is black and white. It's either right or it isn't. Trying to explain abstract concepts can be very difficult, especially in special education. Second is that they don't hold grudges. One day I spent 45 minutes straight in a power struggle with a fourth grader. I was exhausted at the end of that. I figured the kid would be mad at me at least for the rest of the day, especially since I won. Yet only 10 minutes later this same kid would only let me help him do something, no one else!

One of the interesting things is that kids don't always have a filter on what they say or do. Now that I have been at the school for a couple of months and the kids in my class have gotten to know me I can usually count on a couple of things being the same. At least once a week I can be assured that "Freddy" will tell me that I am getting too old and that I better get married soon. At least once a week I will be told that I am a mean teacher. I will continue to be told by one child or another that if I already know the answer to something that I should just do it for them. Following which I try to explain again that I don't give them things to do because I don't know how to do it, it's so that THEY can learn to do it for themselves. I can count on being asked if I ever am not drinking something. (I have a tendency to get dehydrated so I always have a water bottle and occasionally a Diet Coke in my hand)But one of the best parts is that at least once a week I see the light of understanding appear in a kid's eyes and I know that I have helped them learn something new. And the very very best part is getting hugs from kids who want to make sure I will be there the next day even after what has seemed like a never-ending power struggle all day. It makes me want to have kids of my own, even on the worst days!