Sliding into Summer.

The school year end has approached very quickly, and I will join the privileged ranks of education staff around North America for my first eight week summer vacation.  It has been a joyous experience working with children.  There have been some stressful moments to be sure, but for the most part a smooth, valuable, and positive work life. 

I have sometimes wished I could parachute into a lost island somewhere in some vast ocean complete with tiki hut, fresh fruit and fish, with an extra tiki hut for a library to while away my days.  But then I would miss out on some of the finer points of life in the fast lane.

Some of the funnier moments of walking the hallways of elementary school: A little munchkin in Senior Kindergarten spies me walking past in the hall: slaps his foot down in front of me and says "Please tie my shoelace".  Then in the playground a group of Grade 3's are playing some kind of ball game and the ball bounces over the fence into the front of school car park where I am busy unloading my equipment: "Miss, miss! Will you fetch our ball? And then the delighted shouts of "She's doing it!" and then the little girl who came up beside me as we walked in the same direction in a corridor: She slipped her hand into mine, looked up to me and said "Please walk me to my classroom".  (This last one because no child is allowed outside of a classroom on their own). 

These steal your heart moments would be lost and what would I do without filling myself up with such pure innocence and sweetness.

And so a year ends on a high note.  More to come as I now have a new contract for the next year of school!

From my tiki hut in suburbia to you.