Heartache and Happiness

I never really say much about my job because I am never too sure what is acceptable for me to say but to start with I am a teacher.  I teacher 5th grade math in Irving.  I learned last year, my first year teaching, that with the job title, "teacher," comes other titles such as: friend, mom, disciplinarian, confidant.  Students sometimes share very private things with me, some things I expect and somethings are completely unexpected and most of the time shocking, sad, heartbreaking, sometimes disgusting, and many many other  descriptive words.  Sometimes Many times there are kids in your class that drive you up the wall but as soon as you find out more about them you know why they are or why they act the way they do.  Yesterday was a first hand example of this and I will NEVER forget it.  One that left me heartbroken but yet so full.

I had dismissed the kids as normal and made my way back to my classroom where I was going to "find" something to do until I could leave.  At dismissal I had a student that needed to walk his sister home but was coming back for his soccer party for the school soccer team.  I kept his stuff with me so that he did not have to carry it on his walk.  As I sat at my computer, he walked back in and I showed him where I had put his belongings and he looked at me and said "Mrs. Carney will you come watch me get my soccer trophy since my mom is not coming?"  Right then and there my heart shattered.  I don't even think that I shut my computer down before I jumped up (fighting back the tears that were welling up in my eyes) and said "OF COURSE!!!"  We walked to the office to call his mom who was supposed to bring juice boxes up for the party and could not get a hold of her or find her anywhere.  Thankfully another teacher saw her in the back parking lot and we were able to find her.  She dropped his juice boxes off and left.  So we made our way to the soccer party and I proudly stood there as his "mom" as he got his soccer trophy.

First thing this morning he came in and thanked me for going with him.  I told him that I was so glad to be there and told him that I was going to give him my classroom number so if anything comes up next year and his mom can't make it then I would come for him.  He smiled a BIG SMILE and said " oh there are going to be a lot of things so get ready."

It's moments like these when I know I have to enter my classroom not only as a teacher but as the adult/parent/mom that some of my students do not have.