Sunday, November 24, 2013

Punishments and Rewards

This week several kids decided to make my life difficult in a way I would prefer not to detail.

It left me feeling worthless and run over even when I felt it was not true.

I went to school the next day and did my best, really not feeling that I could do anything - or that I even did anything worth doing.

This is not a school where gifts are frequent. In fact, in the previous 6 years, I may have gotten five small presents, mostly homemade, at Christmas.

Friday, one student came by to give me a thank you note for teaching her and two others gave me bath oil. They were thanked - and I will write notes - but they will never know how valuable those gifts were to me and how perfect the timing was.

2 comments:

Pissedoffteacher said...

so sorry you went through this. i value all the gifts I have ever gotten, especially the really ugly ones that were given with love.

ChiTown Girl said...

I'm sorry you're going through such a rough patch.

One of my most cherished gifts is a Spiderman action figure that one of my babies gave me for Christmas one year. He clearly had wrapped it all by himself (judging by the amount of tape wrapped around it! :D ) and that it was a toy he loved. I tried all day to get him to take it back, and he insisted he wanted me to have it. After the third time, I was afraid I was going to hurt his feelings and/or make him think I didn't want it, or like it, so I just gave him a BIG thank you hug, and let it go. That Spiderman still sits on a shelf in my living room. It's impossible for me to look at it and not smile.