Moving On

Why you ask? Well, this week was Teacher Appreciation Week and it was a huge success. It started Monday morning with a decorated envelope on my desk, "To Ms. Jessica, Love Zachary." Cute. Expecting to find Colored Picture Number 1,486,329 for the year inside, I was careful not to rip its contents. Surprisingly there was no colored picture inside, what was? A one dollar bill, a quarter, and a penny. $1.26. How could I have anything but a great week when it started off like that? Thank you, Zachie. Your gift was worth a lot more than $1.26.

The gifts kept on coming after that! Tuesday brought about a $25 gift certificate to Target from Katherine thanking me for all I do "to make Kindergarten an enjoyable and educational experience" for her. That's interesting because Katherine certainly makes kindergarten enjoyable for me; you'd have to meet her to really understand. My sentiments were confirmed on Thursday when again I received something from Katherine. Although this time it really was from Katherine. On my desk was a rather large Barbie-themed gift bag. Wondering what could possibly be inside, a quick look didn't really answer the question. That's when Katherine came over, looked up at me, and said, "Those are crafts I made for you." Mind you they didn't even take up all of the space on the bottom, nevermind the rest of the huge bag! I will have to post a picture of these "crafts" because there is no good way to describe them. Just one more way Katherine makes kindergarten a complete enjoyment.

On Wednesday, I found a gift from Megan sitting ever-so-prettily on my desk. Meg is our class princess, no literally, our class princess. Maybe one of our conversations will enlighten you a bit more: "So Ms. Jessica, what do you want to be when you grow up, a princess or a queen?" "Hmm, good question Meg, I'd have to give it some serious thought." She looked at me puzzled, like, why would you have to think about something like that? Yes, we even have the curtsies, the batting eyelashes, and the elegent dresses--EVERYDAY. Her gift to me: a teacher's charm bracelet. I love it and will never forget who gave it to me. How could I? Thanks, Meg, I do like it, I will wear it a lot, and yes, I will show Dougie when I get home.

Like Mom always says, who wouldn't want want to teach kindergarteners? They still like you, they have a deep love of learning, they're great for their entertainment value, and they're real, what you see is what you get. I received a gift from most of the kids, like I said it's always nice to feel appreciated. Even better was the Teacher Appreciation Tree hanging in each of our classrooms. The kids got two paper apples to write what they liked about their teacher and then they got to hang them on the tree. Some of the words I would use to describe the experience: touching, grateful, enlightening, thankful, and not least of all appreciated.

Oh yes, those flowers you see pictured. They're from Zach. I'm almost sure his mother must have bought them because, well, I think he cleaned out his piggy bank.