A few stories from the month…
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Each morning, before class begins, the teachers gather both classes into our room. They sing songs, dance, and run around– all the while reciting pieces of what they have learned.. Could be anything from the basic colors to the pledge to the Christian flag or the sounds of the letters in the alphabet.
But there is one song, one dance, that warms my heart like none other. We call it "the happy dance."
Teacher: "Are you happy?"
Children: "Yes, teacher!"
Teacher: "Show me!!"
To which the kids all firmly place their hands on their hips and start swinging from one leg to another, singing at the top of their voices, "Woo! I am so happy! Woo! I am so happy! Woo! I am so happy!"
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There is a poster on the wall of water animals. It has several that have been cut out and colored by the teacher. A duck. A fish. A crocodile. The children can name them all. The teacher asks questions.
Teacher: "Can you play with a crocodile?"
Students: "NO, Teacher! It will bite me!"
She then challenges them.
Teacher: "Can you name some water animals that are not on this poster?"
Students: "Hippo! Dolphin! Sea horse!"
And then one day, class life met real life.
The kids grab my hand, pulling me towards the corner of the playground.
"Auntie Grace! Look! A frog! Look! It is here!"
The frog is pinned under a brick. I move it and the kids shriek and jump back.
"A frog is a water animal!" one of the kids proudly announce.
This is SO not a good place for a frog. I get a leaf and try to encourage it to jump out of the preschool compound and to safety. The kids scream and jump back with every move the frog makes.
A few of the kids get sticks of their own and poke at it. I tell them no, but they ignore me. So I grab a plastic bag that is lying around and pick it up, to the horror of the surrounding preschoolers. They scream at the top of their lungs and run away as fast as their little legs will carry them. I chase a few of them, just for fun, before letting the frog go. I make one of them cry.
Whoops.
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Gcinile (pronounced sort of like Tah-nee-lay but with a click/throat thing on the first syllable) is a little girl who has stolen my heart. She is sweet, brilliant, and has a smile (with 3 cavities on her front 2 teeth included) that will melt your heart.
"Auntie Grace! Look me! I'm finished!" as she proudly shows me her work.
She's also happy to spend the afternoon curled up on my lap with her head against my chest.
We eat lunch together every day. She waits just outside the door for me to come out, firmly grabs my hand, and marches off with me to our little corner. We share my apple one day. A bite for me, a bite for her. "Auntie, for you! I brought this for you!" she says as she excitedly hands me a bag of her favorite snack one day. "Auntie, for you!" as she offers me a lick of her sucker. And we created a sneaky way for me to share my Cheerios or cookies with her without everyone seeing.
I tell her how wonderful and beautiful and smart she is and she just grins at me. She laughs before I even tickle her and her laugh makes me forget all of my problems. It makes me forget how tired I am, how dirty I am, and how overwhelmed I am. Her laugh brings me back to the present moment– when all that matters is loving her.
I cup her face in my hands and tell her she is beautiful. She takes my face into hers and says he same thing.
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My girl, in all of her toothy glory.
