What I loved most was getting to know these little people.  Several had serious separation issues, but within few weeks where ready to go.  Several of the kids have very strong personalities and know exactly what they want out of any situation.  A few of the kids are keen observers and would rather watch from the outside for a few minutes or even several weeks before they will try to do something new.   Some needed a personal invitiation to engage in any activity.   All had there own sweetness to offer.   I feel very lucky to have had this time with them and I am so excited to be able to watch them grow.   Hopefully many of these children will be good friends with my son they grow together.

Another observation from my time teaching is how important it is to prepare RE teachers, especially the ones teaching younger children how to welcome visitors and potential new members.    In my 7 weeks I would say that at least 1-2 new families could arrive at the door any week.    I did not spend enough time thinking ahead of time of what information would be helpful to communicate to new families.  Mostly I just tried to help them get their kids in the right classroom and offered a quick overview of what we planned to do that day.  I wish I had more time to have a conversation with them and connect with them as a fellow parent, but when you have a classroom of kids conversations are about 2 seconds long.

Another thing I did not expect was how badly my son was going to behave in the classroom with his mom teaching.   He was uber-clingy and would not follow instruction.  My last week I kicked him out of the class and sent him to his Dad.  In hindsight, it probably is a lot to ask of him.  I was encouraging other children in the same way I encourage him.  I forced him to share his books, toys, stickers and music with the other children.   Early on he did just fine and was good about trying to help mom, but the last two weeks he just melted down and could not control himself.    Hopefully with Mom out of the classroom for awhile he can redeem himself and the other kids will be able to get to know him on his own.

I probably won’t be back in the classroom until the late Spring or Summer given the baby we are expecting in late December.   Hopefully  by then Aidan will have worked out his behavior issues.  I think rather than following him through the RE program by teaching other “grades” as he advances, I’m going to stay with the Flower Garden where I can enjoy the newness of creating a church community.

I spent the night in Kentucky last night.  Stranded by Delta Airlines.  My plans to only be away from my family for one night did not work.   My original flight which took me from DC. to Atlanta to home was cancelled.  The closest they could get me to home was a flight last night to Cincinnati, a hotel room in Kentucky then a flight this morning to KC. 

For the first time in my whole life I left for a trip without packing an extra outfit.  Figures my luck, so I’m feeling yucky today in the same clothes as yesterday.

Can’t wait to get home. 

Case in point, last night for the first time my son got ahold of a dollar bill.  He knows about coins, we have managed to convince him that coins are for feeding the pig. (putting in his piggy bank)  First, he was calling the dollar a ticket.  When I tried to tell him it was money, he was not buying it.  Then my husband and I settled on calling it a dollar.  He picked that up just fine and managed to play with it during our drive to Target last night.  As I got out of the car, my husband was getting our son out of his carseat and felt the need to take a few minutes to instill a lesson about dollars.  A few minutes later we were walking into the store discuss the virtues of the dollar bill's ability to secure juice and food.  I just had to laugh that was our teaching moment in the Target parking lot.  Dollars = juice & food.   

What I have found amusing in the last few weeks with my 2 year old son is finely honed ability to already filter things he just doesn't want to know or learn, yet in other ways he is like a sponge ready to soak up whatever I offer. 

A couple of examples to illustrate….. To begin you must know that my son, has beautiful, dark brown eyes.  I think they are stunning given that he has very fair skin and strawberry-blonde hair.  I on the other had share his coloring, but have blue-eyes.   Recently, he was looking at my eyes and for the first time notices I have blue eyes.   I got a mirror and we were looking at him and I asked him what color his eyes were.  He insisted they were blue, also.  I pointed out that he had beautiful, brown eyes.  He was very insistent that he had blue eyes.  I let him be.  A couple of days later, we played the same game.  This time hesitanting he said he has beautiful, brown eyes.  I could tell he really didn't believe it, he was just repeating what I said before.  I think he still thinks he has blue eyes, he is just telling me what I want to hear. 

My son likes to pretend he is a puppy.  He barks, pants and licks while crawling on his hands and knees.  His Dad taught him this trick.  I think it is particularly funny, when he loves on his Dad as a puppy and licks his forehead.  It is a slobbery mess.   So I was trying to get our son to take a nap and he thought it would be fun to play puppy and kept repeating "I am a puppy", I quietly said "No, you are a boy who needs to take a nap" or some version there of.  He would say "I am not a boy, I am a puppy."  I let it go, but the next morning.  He was playing while I was getting ready for work.  He was doing his fish impersonation.  Similar to the puppy deal, but with o-shaped mouth and swimming actions.  This time instead of saying he was a fish, he declared himself to be fish-boy.  He heard what I was saying the night before despite his insistance otherwise and incorporated the knowledge to work for his world.

Finally, we made it to the pool two times over the holiday weekend.  On our second visit my son found a green, plastic jewel about the size of a half dollar coin.  I recognized it at a jewel from a pool treasure chest playset I saw at the store.  Since we were the last people at the pool, I assume someone abandoned it and let my son keep it.  He was definitely coveting the jewel and repeatedly described the jewel.  It was green and a rectangle.  In a fit of imagination I told him that it was a jewel from a teasure chest.  The pirates must have dropped it the night before when moving their treasure around.  He was fascinated.  My husband and mother looked at me like I had lost my mind.  Was I really going to tell my son that pirates visited the neighborhood pool every night moving treasure around.  Yes, I was.  Guess what? The little guy sucked up the story, as if it was the only word of truth he has ever heard from my mouth.   He repeated the story for the thirty minutes or so that the jewel held his interest.   I'm fairly certain when he rediscovers the jewel, he will be telling the pirate story.

Chasing Bubbles is also a good metaphor for my life.  It seems I am always seeking something.  Really it doesn't much matter if I catch it or not, the journey is the most important part of the game.