Goodbyes

Today was my last day at the after school program I’ve been volunteering at once a week for a year.  I am glad to be moving onto student teaching, but am really sad that I won’t see these kids every week.  It couldn’t have been a better, more well-rounded day.  I helped one of my favorite kids with her homework - ah, rules of phonics, how I love thee.  I played games with a few other kids, realizing Connect Four is much more involved than it appears on the surface.  I even got to apply a band-aid to the finger of perhaps the cutest kindergartener I’ve ever met, who got a paper cut and was trying to decide how much of a big deal it was to her.  I think I prefer teaching the older kids, but I do love the moments where I can play “mom” to the young’ins.  SO. DAMN. CUTE.

A third grade girl who I don’t interact with much made me a card saying goodbye.  When the director of the program told her I would become a mom soon, and I followed up with “my wife is going to have a baby,” I watched as the wheels in her little brain strained to comprehend exactly what that meant.  Hey - at 8 years old I would have a hard time with that riddle!  This has happened several times at the program, and I think I’m getting better at anticipating their confusion and disbelief that this person who just played a round of “Go Fish” with them is married to a woman.   It shakes up their assumptions and possibly everything they thought they knew about the order of things, but I guess that’s what we all do when we really get to know each other.  I’ve found that kids understand it all the best.