given the saint michael school plague of 2017 my nuggets and i celebrated valentines day a few days late this year.
today room 200 was buzzing with energy, music and the sugary sweetness of red dye number 4. it was truly lovely. each year around this time i like to reflect on what love means to me. what it looks like. what it feels like. what it is in its truest form. here is what i have come up with on this balmy thursday afternoon... love is waiting to have your super wiggly tooth pulled by your teacher so it would be "extra special." love is watching your kids care for one another. i mean write each other cards, draw each other pictures, encourage one another when things are difficult, care. love is taking turns. love is random acts of kindness. love is not drawing attention to the smell of fart when you know your teacher dropped a bomb during writing. love is being patient and waiting even when you REALLLLLLLY want those cake pops. love is the sound of kids singing about the sunny side of life. love is hugs when the other person squeezes extra tight. love is forehead kisses. love is dancing to billy joel. love is the laughter of someone you love so much that hearing them happy makes you happy. love is the way my kids look at me and accept me even when i feel like the world's worst teacher. love is forgiveness. whether you're forgiving your friend for stealing your cupcake or forgiving yourself for smuggling three marshmallow pops home in your purse. love is showing up. even when you feel shitty. even when it's hard. even when you feel like you aren't going to make it. love persists. love is so many great and colorful things. it is the most extraordinarily complex part of our world and equally the most significant. i want my kids to feel love in all its forms. the wildly beautifully. the tragically painful. the transformative and the life-changing. i want them to know the limitless love of jesus and all the big and great loves that fall under that canopy. i want them to know the joy that only love can bring and the sorrow that it is coupled with from time to time. i want them to have the shit kicked out of them by love. it sounds horrible but think about it: has there been anything that has taught you more about yourself than a broken heart? just like my gram says, no one gets to enjoy the rainbow without the rain. i believe to truly know love you must know heartache. you can't understand the full extent of love without getting some dirt under your nails. i know this now. i wish my children not to suffer but to take the pain. take it and wrestle it to the ground. to fall and then to rise. they will rise. i know they will. i taught them how. along with all of the wonderful people in their lives. and so today, i celebrate love. here's to love. the candy heart love and the crying in the shower listening to adele love. the love that makes you feel like you can do anything. the love that all good teachers have for their nuggets. the love that changes the world. happy valentines day, friends. xo, ld
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