I Was Mere Seconds From Poking Myself In The Eye When…

…I got the most lovely and thoughtful gift I have ever received as a teacher.

Evidently, this week there was something called Teacher Appreciation Day. Ever heard of it? I must have blinked and missed it or something. Let’s see, maybe I should reflect on my week and see if I missed something in between holding my pee and frantically searching for the copies I request two weeks ago.

Hmmmm…..

Well, on Monday I danced my way through flaming hoops and tap danced with a ball on my nose for the Powers That Be who came and scoured my school for faux-fabulousness. (I have since theorized that they were actually the Tony people and we were really going for some sort of Best In Show award rather than a recognition of educational excellence. I mean, that had to be it, right? Right?!)

Ok. Then on Tuesday I got yelled at by the school secretary for not picking up my pay stub in a timely fashion. Unfortunately (for me? for her? for everyone within hearing range of the main office?) she is only available for “stub retrieval” between the hours of 12 and 2…hours when I am, um, teaching. I’m not sure what she does between 8 and 12 or between 2 and 3, but evidently stub retrieval is out of the question.

Um, on Wednesday I lost my prep (a.k.a. desperately necessary free period). Which always sucks, but somehow it sucks even more when you line the class up, walk them to the prep teacher’s classroom and THEN find out that that person is absent. Evidently sometimes it is far too taxing upon the office staff to be thorough in reporting the day’s absences. So we stood there for a few minutes as I silently prayed for patience and then I turned my friends around and we marched back downstairs where I pulled forty minutes of genius out of my behind because, you know, the prep teacher didn’t leave any subplans. I mean, why would we all be held to high standards?

On Thursday I was subjected to a meeting with a very evil member of our Support Staff who is supposed to support both teachers AND students with special needs but in reality manages to just f*ck up everyone’s day. In our thirty minute meeting she managed to insult an entire racial group, people of lower socio-economic status and teachers…I mean, really, if I wasn’t so offended by her I would have been in awe of her ability to totally flatten three huge groups of people in thirty minutes flat. Seriously, that has to be some sort of record.

So far, I don’t exactly feel as if I was basking in appreciation.

Then on Friday, Bubbles walked in a few minutes late, popped over to my back table where I was shuffling together some papers for our morning and dropped something off. (As a quick aside that will be important later, both Bubbles mother and grandmother are locally popular and talented artists.)

Bubbles: I brought you a present.
Me: I see that.
Bubbles: My grandma painted it. We have lots of paintings at our house. My mom said I could pick one out for you.
Me: That’s so nice of you, sweetie.
I open the package to see a bright, colorful, almost graphic painting of an island.
Bubbles: I know you like the beach and sunny places. And I wanted you to think about us when it’s summer, because I’m going to miss you. So I picked this one.
Me: (overwhelmed and actually at a loss for words) (huge hug for Bubbles) Thank you, friend. You have no idea how much I love this.

Just a little appreciation to carry you all through the week….

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13 Comments
  • Isn’t that how it always is…when we are about at the end of our rope, our little friends do something like that to brighten our day. *sigh* It’s really some of those moments that make teaching so special…that and the “light bulb” moments…those are the best.

    May 11, 2009 at 1:20 am
  • I think that is the nicest thing I have heard all week!

    May 11, 2009 at 1:44 am
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    May 11, 2009 at 2:00 am
  • That’s awesome. The more unexpected the better sometimes. Very nice 🙂

    May 11, 2009 at 2:09 am
  • That is a wonderful gift!!!

    I’m a prep person (music) myself, I am never out because I don’t want to leave people in a lurch!

    May 11, 2009 at 2:57 am
  • you are made of genius and awesome.

    May 11, 2009 at 5:57 am
  • I came here because you usually write something I can laugh about whilst I am nodding my head in understanding and agreement.

    I had a tough day (high school) and needed something to smile about,,,glad the little girl made your day 🙂

    Michelle

    May 11, 2009 at 6:50 am
  • How sweet!!

    May 11, 2009 at 1:27 pm
  • As a student teacher, my last day was a few days ago. I was expecting normal things like hand soap, lotion, and silly cards.

    One of my students gave me a real Louis Vuitton purse. You can see the details of the exchange on my blog, but it was outrageous!

    May 11, 2009 at 5:38 pm
  • WOW original art! And to think we got pizza and the soda machine was popped open for us!

    May 11, 2009 at 6:15 pm
  • My Teacher Appreciation gift was four paid days off — school was closed due to the pig flu! Even better, we don’t have to make them up. Swine-cation was fantastic!

    May 11, 2009 at 10:12 pm
  • You’re killing me softly, babe. Singing my life with your words.

    May 16, 2009 at 5:31 pm
  • I am voting for Bubbles for best supporting actress….we are definitely underpaid and even more under appreciated. I did get a nice Panera lunch and got to eat it with my colleagues in a childless room. That is good eough for me at this point (note, not a single gift of appreciation from any of the parents of my little friends).

    May 16, 2009 at 5:55 pm

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