Cute like a Chihuahua

This week was by far the hardest week yet of teaching. The newness of everything is wearing off and the kids are getting very comfortable with me (maybe a little too comfortable). But the biggest lesson I learned this week was how to give my kids my best when my heart is hurting. As most of you know by now I found out last Sunday that the baby I nannied for last year, Paige, has a cancerous tumor in her chest. She is so sweet and I took care of her from the time she was 5 months till she was 15 months, so she is my baby too. That being said it was incredibly hard for me to go to school and focus while I was awaiting news on her condition. And of course Monday and Tuesday the kids were CRAZY! The saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” went through my head about a thousand times those two days. Fortunately, by the end of the week it proved itself to be very true. After “laying down the law” on Wednesday with my week started getting better, and by the time the kids left on Friday I was feeling much better J

Cute Kid Quotes:

Madison: “Miss Bass! Tyler said the F word!!!”

Me: “Tyler, get over here!”

Madison: “You know. F-L-I-P”

Me: “Never mind Tyler”

One day I wore a black and white striped cardigan…and got this fashion advice from on of my girls…

“Miss Bass, I don’t like that sweater. It makes you look like your in jail!”

To practice writing friendly letters I had the kids write me a letter telling me what they think of our class so far this year, here are two of my boys responses.

“So far I think this class is good, but it is not that good.”- Rocky

“You are the best teacher ever. You are coot like a cwow.”  -Tyler

(He read his out loud to me, if you can’t decode kid spelling it says “cute like a Chihuahua”).

My “Charmed” Life

Tonight I watched the video my parents made me for my high school graduation. It has been a while since I’ve watched it (ok, not that long…maybe 5 months). But tonight I saw it with new eyes. I have always known my life has been very easy. Also, I knew that when I started teaching I was going to hear stories about my student’s home lives that would shock me. As, I watched the 30 minute DVD of my life flash across my TV I began thinking about just how blessed I was growing up. Honestly the worst thing that happened to me in the 3rd grade was that another girl told me I looked like a leprechaun because I was wearing an all green outfit on St. Patrick’s Day ( it was the cutest little green and white striped top with a green scort, and she was obviously jealous of me). At the time it really hurt my feelings and crushed my little heart. Funny how those things stick with you. Needless to say, the problems I hear in my class each day make my “drama” seem like a joke.



All this to say, I am very thankful for the “charmed” life my parents provided me. Even though it breaks my heart to realize my “normal” life isn’t the reality for a majority of my students, it only makes me want to work that much harder to show them stability, encouragement, and unconditional love at school. Each day I go to school I get to give them hope, and it is my goal that in my classroom each of my students will have a “charmed” life.


*A special thanks to my mom and dad. I love you both so much. I’m the woman I am today because of you. Thank you for teaching me the value of hard work. And for always believing in me and loving me no matter what. I’m truly blessed to be your daughter.