Today I said, good-bye many times over. First, to the car-rider parents of new-soon-to-be middle schoolers. "I may never see you again, but I've enjoyed opening your doors," I said. "Thanks," they responded. "We'll miss you too."
Today I said good-bye to the dogs of the car-rider families. There was Princess. Oh, boy. She was a hyperactive Chiuahua for three years running, hurtling her little fat tan self against the passenger side window, gums gnarled back, growling and yapping. Scared me. Where in the world did they get the name Princess?
Then there was Bob. The hound dog. You saw a picture of Bob this year hanging out of the car window awaiting our pets and kisses. I must tell you that Bob had become so overactive that the "human mother" bought a zapper of some sort to keep Bob from leaning out of the car window. It broke our hearts because Bob once let us pet him, but not now. Just this morning Bob arrived, but he sat poised on the passenger side behind the driver. Once the car pulled off Bob lunged toward the passenger side window on our side, head out, tongue flapping in the breeze. All of us duty people miss Bob. Is it possible to love a dog more than a child or a good parent?
This year I've met Bubbles, a dachshund; Reba, a sophisticated coon dog; and a tiny grey Manx kitten that looked frightened to death to be riding in a truck every morning, especially one that blared the latest country music hits. But I digress. Car-rider duty was not supposed to be about the pets. . .just the children and parents.
Today I said good-bye to 2nd graders and pray to God they become 3rd graders emotionally ASAP!
Today I said good-bye to 3rd graders and warned them that they will have me twice a week next year..so get ready. . .plus there will be NO TATTLING in 4th grade.
Today I said good-bye to my 4th graders. This is the first year I haven't taught 4th grade a whole school year. This year the week after the FCAT writing test in February, I more or less became a reading teacher. This year I did not get to teach poetry, paint with flowers, or just have fun with the 4th graders after all that work. And I missed it. So did they.
This year I said good-bye to six employees of our school who retired. "Wait for me!" I cried.
This year I said many good-byes.
As wonderful as it is to have the end of the school year come and summer begin, I've always hated the goodbyes. I don't like when things end, so the goodbyes were always the hardest for me.
Posted by: merry jennifer | May 30, 2009 at 07:03 AM