without a doubt...

...kids make me happy.

this is a major reason why i want to teach. but then i come across the dilemma of whether i want to teach them and to a certain degree be a disciplinarian or if i want to just love them and play with them and care for them.

today, i went to the park by our house to destress. i was swinging and journaling at the same time, sun beating down on my pasty-self. (i've lost my color...the snow made me albino!) and this little kid runs up to the swing right next to me. he starts swinging and smiling with these gorgeous light eyes and he keeps saying, "hi! hi!" and with every push he received from his mom and dad, he went higher and kept saying "hi!" he was so happy. he made me so happy.

and last week, friday was a day that warmed my heart. my kids warmed my heart. here's how:

two of my kindergartners were tattle-taling on each other - telling me each other's offenses. i really had it so i said, "girls, i don't like it when you tell on each other. it's not nice." but they persisted so i responded by saying, "ok give me your papers. we're not going to work today. you made me sad because you're being mean to each other." so the girls stopped and we did our own thing quietly. at the end of our time together, one of the little girls came up to me and said, "i'm sorry i've been upset with you." and hugged me.

i almost cried right then and there in the classroom.

round two of warming my heart happened when two of my kindergartner boys were talking about what they would do when they were grown-ups. here's how the dialogue went:

Famous: Blase is gonna race cars when he grows up.
Miss C: Oh really? What are you gona do?
Famous: I'm gonna play ball.
Miss C: Oh cool. You're gonna play ball?"
Famous: Yea. What are you gonna do when you grow up?
Miss C: I'm gonna teach, like your teacher.
Famous: That's all?

totally a moment from a Peanuts gang or Family Circus comic strip!

my final heart-warming moment happened off-campus at the post-office when i was waiting for erin to drop off her mail. a pre-school who lives across the street from the post-office came running towards the car. i reached my hand out so i could give her five or shake her hand. as she approached the car, she stopped by my window, kissed my pinky, and ran away.

in the words of little miss marie d., "that's sooooo preciooooous!!!!"

:)

these are the moments i'm really gonna miss when i leave montana. those kids break my heart with their smiles and enthusiasm. i don't love them enough. i need to love them more! and they have no idea how much they are shaping and forming my life as we speak.

God bless those little angels.