Kickin' & Screamin'

It’s been over a year since I’ve posted anything.  NOT since I’ve written….but since I’ve posted.  Much of what I felt like writing about over the past year to 16 months has been controversial….and I became a big fat chicken before clicking ‘publish.’  As a teacher, I often have to watch my words, keep opinions to myself, and remain neutral on certain topics…..just to keep the peace, keep potentially angry parents at bay, and keep my hand free and clear of a good slapping.

I will, however, use my time on this nice, nice Friday evening to share an observation  I’ve made over this past school year.  I’m here on this Friday evening….unable to do much more than this, due to the fact that I have that indescribable exhaustion that teachers develop this time of year.  Whereas earlier in the year, a nice Friday night might bring about the desire to go out to dinner, catch a movie, or hang with friends.  This time of year, we simply make it through the day knowing, that if we time things just right and make no stops on the drive home, we could possibly be passed out on the sofa by 3:45.  You literally look at the clock every hour and comfort yourself with the fact that you CAN make it just a few more hours….possibly without slapping anyone, and that your reward will be a nice, nice four hour long nap.  This time of year, you start questioning, even after 20+ years, if you are cut out for this job.  You start to hit snooze more than the usual seven times per morning.  You realize that you can actually get ready for work in eleven minutes.  You couldn’t care less if your shoes match. You seriously consider trying to get in a 20 minute nap in the nearest closet rather than eating lunch.  I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t tried this one….within the past three days.

Teaching is hard.  Kids are hard.  But they are full of tiny opportunities to realize how amazing life truly is.  They speak facts.  Honest facts.  And that is the observation I shall share this evening.  Kids speak facts.  They may not necessarily be nice, but they are truthful.  And due to their innocent age, the not-so-nice facts that they sometimes speak are forgivable, often laughable, and sometimes hit you right in the gut.

Yesterday, a young student looked at me and said, “your hair is really poufy and you always wear a ring on your thumb.”  Then they smiled and ran off.  Simple observations.  Two true facts they felt the need to share. Before they turned the corner, they stopped and yelled “you are pretty, Mrs. Beverly!”  I cried.

Another student recently told me, “you look really tired.”  It was a boy.  Bless his heart.  He’s just little, but I know his Mamma–at some point–will teach him to never EVER tell a woman she looks tired.   But I loved it.  It made me realize how truly tired I was.  I was struggling.  I needed a break.  I immediately stopped what we were doing, went to the stereo, cranked up “Can’t Stop the Feeling” and we danced.  I danced like a fool all over that room with 20-something giggling first graders.  It was awesome.  I felt less tired than I’d felt in weeks.

So, what if we, as adults, could make such simple observations in “real life.”  Like this morning, when I pulled up beside a car at a red light. A car who had previously drove right through a stop sign to pull out in front of me.  What if I could have simply rolled my window down and said “you’re an idiot for pulling out in front of me.  I have a child in the car with me and you are a horrible driver.”  True facts, which I felt the need to share.

Based on your day today, who would your person be?  And what would your true facts be?  What if we were allowed two true facts every day…and the person we shared our facts with didn’t get mad, didn’t cuss us out, hit us, cuss us, give us the finger,  or even get offended.  We just got to share our facts….for our own satisfaction.  Would that be a big cup of awesome sauce or WHAT?   Ah, it would be amazing, most definitely.  However, I shy away from being slapped and cussed in public, so I have decided that I will strive to find a true fact, something I truly believe, and share it with someone daily.  It’s amazing how hard this truly is.  It makes me realize what I liar I’ve been in the past.  “Oh, your new haircut looks great!”…..and I’m really thinking “Lord have mercy, did she PAY someone to cut her hair like that???”  I’ve been struggling to find things I can say with 100% honesty.  It’s been a truly humbling experience.  I’m truly a kid at heart, and the things I want to say just aren’t going to go over well with most people.

I found one today.  Yep, on a Friday at the end of the school year, and as previously stated– I simply wanted to book it home for a nap, I braved the grocery store for a few items.  The woman working the checkout line was tired.  A first grader would have told her she looked that way.  But I noticed her blue eyes.  They were the color of my husbands.  I actually felt ridiculously nervous before I said it, and I put it off until the last minute.  As I walked off with my cart, I looked back and told her, “You have beautiful eyes.”  She froze and stared at me as her blue eyes welled up with tears.  She thanked me and told me that her husband used to always tell her that.  From her tone, I assumed he was now gone.

When I got to my car, my own eyes welled with tears.  Honesty.  It can be hilarious coming from the mouths of babes.  It can hurt, offend, and make people angry, and it can make someone feel something they possibly haven’t felt in a long time.  A good feeling.  Something beautiful.

Try it.  The one where you tell your relative their jokes aren’t funny,  they need to stop smoking and their Members Only jacket needs to go….maybe keep that one to yourself.

The one where you tell you someone they are beautiful and you admire them….yeah, say that one out loud.  🙂