The Little People

I honestly don't know what happens to the time or the days. They go by faster than I can keep up with and before I know it the week is gone and I am frantically preparing for the next week. I have concluded that this is due to the little people.

The little people are a LOT of work. And I am only in charge of them 4 days a week for no more than 8 hours a week. Yet, my whole day revolves around them, my nights are spent planning for them, and by the end of the week, I am thankful for a short reprieve until Monday.

If some of you are wondering who the little people are...I started teaching kids at school. Ages 7-9. Truth be told, I absolutely LOVE it. They are really a lot of fun. I love when they want to ask a question and say, "Oh Tia" (tia is pronounced chia by the way...yes like the pet but it means aunt in portuguese...except the kids elongate it so it sounds like chiiiiiiiiiiaa. And as a further explanation, kids here are taught to call family friends, neighbors, and teachers or anyone they've been talking to for five minutes Tia) Another plus, is that they truly adore me, particularly my 9 year old girls, and are just as curious as they can be.

But people seriously, so much more work than big people. These days, I teach little ones in the morning, and big ones in the evenings. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays I literally run all day (I work for a school with two locations, so I go back and forth between the two) and thankfully Wednesday I have a little time in the day to stop and breathe. But seriously I get home about 9:30 pm...and usually asleep by 10. There is so much to remember with the little people...homework books, stickers, craft projects, grading. And then of course all the teacher/school crap I have to take care of. Registering classes in the computer, making sure I asked for the materials I need, did I fill out the attendance form for today?, and of course I spend weekends, planning all the lessons.

It's a good thing I like those little people. Today for instance Igor made me smile. He is 8 years old. He is late EVERY. SINGLE. CLASS. Today he arrived earlier than usual so we were singing our song(we learn a song every few weeks and practice at the beginning of every class) and he literally BUSTED through the door singing, didn't bother putting his things down, but joined in with the choreography, just as happy as he could be. It was so dang cute I was smiling from ear to ear. We have lots of moments where I am just as proud as a momma and then we have lots of moments if i have to tell them to stop talking and pay attenting one more time... that make me grateful the classes are 1 hour and 5 minutes at the longest.

But really? Despite all my complaining a favorite pastime of mine I feel really lucky. I love my job, I love my kids, I love my big people (most of them anyway), and I love my co-workers (you know, for the most part anyway). I feel like my boss has been really fair with me and I believe that she tries really hard to have a good environment for her employees. I am a lucky girl. I just hope this semester continues to go as well as it has so far....

I took pictures of my little kids...I'll upload them soon!