Monday, May 14, 2012

Teacher Appreciation Week and Mother's Day Bacon...

Oh how I love my job!  No, seriously...I truly, without a doubt, LOVE.MY.JOB!!!  Where else do you get surrounded by hugs...a plethora of hugs...good morning hugs, "anytime" hugs, I'm scared hugs, I'm happy hugs, all sorts of hugs.  I love it!  My students are particularly wonderful.  They are cuddle bunnies and quite frankly, I adore it.  Every day is started off with a Good Morning hug from "A".  He says, "Ms. Eklund, I have to start my day this way...a hug for my mom at home and a hug for you at school.  I love you both SO much."  Awwwwe....you don't get THAT sitting in a cubicle. ;)

Teacher Appreciation Week was filled with amazing things from our PTO - we were truly spoiled at my site.  Food every day, notes in our mailboxes, notes home reminding our students to love on us too; it was quite something.  I was reminded how very fortunate I am to work at a school with such an amazing parent population.  Additionally - my students were wonderful.  I got roses from a couple of students, a solar powered gerber daisy from another.  I even got flowers from the parents of a former student and just today I received a lollipop wrapped in plain white paper!  Seriously...so darn adorable and I am humbled by their love and appreciation.  In addition to all these wonderful things...I got bacon.  Yes...bacon.  "J" approached me today at the door with a piece of "crunchy bacon" wrapped in a paper towel.  Her eyes wide with excitement as she informed me that she had saved me a piece of bacon from Mother's Day brunch yesterday, because she just "knew" that I LOOOOOOVED bacon.  :)  "Plus, it's extra crunchy, don't you just LOVE extra crunchy bacon?  I know that I do and that you would too.  I asked Mom if I could take a piece and give it to you today so that we could share it at lunch."  How could I possibly say no??  (as a disclaimer, I did NOT eat the bacon at lunch...it is still sitting here in a little baggie on my desk)

This is the time of year, probably more so than any other time, that I am truly humbled by my job.  My kiddos have worked really hard all year long...really hard.  They've learned so much, not only academically, but socially and emotionally as well.  They are so different from when they first walked in the door.  They have grown physically as well...their toothless grins just one representative of those changes.  Their parents and guardians have entrusted me with their development...and I reflect each year on how well I did as their teacher.  Did I do enough?  Did I teach them everything I could, regardless of state or national standard?  Did I do everything I could to give them every available learning opportunity?  Are they leaving my classroom better "people" than when they entered?  My goal each year is to answer "yes" to all of those questions; to ensure that I went above and beyond as much as I could to guarantee they received the best education possible.  Oh how I deeply love my job and my firsties...I am going to miss their little faces next year.

I guess what I'm feeling can be summed up by what "J" said to me this morning, "Ms. Eklund, I know you're not a mommy, but you are kind of our mommy, right?  You love us just like our mommies do."

Yep, honey - you're right. :)  You are all my little wee ones and I certainly do love you...more than you know.

BEST.JOB.EVER!!

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