Monday, January 09, 2006

Can't explain it.... Don't especially regret it....

Since my last post (DEC 22 for goodness sake!!), I have had my share of naps, including many hours asleep in the car as we traveled to the Florida and the Gator Bowl. I am a terrible copilot, prefer sleeping the miles away, even snoring loud enough to disrupt the listening of the radio. My daughter and hub love to drive, so I lucked out!!

My return back to blogging has been slowed by only one thing: I was feeling too lazy. Just unmotivated to jump back in. Can't explain it. Don't especially regret it. Just felt like crawling away for awhile. It was a good choice. I am back, feeling better than ever and ready to take on the new year.

The return of my students to school has been very smooth, made more so by the absence of one of our most challenging kids. He is interviewing at various private schools around the area, and his mom is a darling. She sees the process of moving to a new school is agitating for him, the interviews are torture for this autistic kid, so she keeps him home each afternoon after the interview. So very caring of her to meet his need for home and nurturing during this difficult time.... when most parents would be likely to dump their kid off with no worries.

I am reminded of the recent news story about a woman who had the cops come to her house when her child was acting up, and then had them drop the still agitated and violent student at her school that same afternoon. The details are sketchy, but I remember fully understanding the impact of this mother's decision to meet her own needs rather than the critical, emergency needs of her child. So sad.

Back on topic: I will miss this fellow when he is gone, but my window of opportunity for smoother teaching will be widened considerably. My other students will benefit in many ways from his exit, but he is well liked by most of the class and they will feel his loss, of that I am sure. I will always remember the genius of his sense of humor, so unexpected in an 8 year old with autism. I will not miss the chair throwing and threats of running away.

The memory of his bright smile will outlast any of my bruises.

5 comments:

Amerloc said...

Glad you have returned.

Glad (in a sad kind of way) that you will notice the absence of a particularily troublesome child. What is it about them that causes us to feel a loss when they leave?

EdWonk said...

I think that you suffered a bout of "blogapathy." It happens to everyone, and not all survive the ailment.

I'm delighted that you did!

Anonymous said...

I was a mentor for 10 years and I enjoyed guiding others. This is a small way of giving back to my novice and seasoned fellow colleages ...knowledge which was given to me.So many kind and knowledgeable people helped me.
I recently wrote a book entitled "Harlem and Momma" that is at Barnes and Nobles.com and Amazon.com. It is a children's book about life in Harlem...the struggles and the victory.

Fred said...

It took me a week to get back into blogging after my vacation. It was somewhat liberating not worrying about it. Now that I'm back, I'm hooked as ever.

Lucy Stern said...

Hope they find the perfect school for that young man. Good luck with your kids this semester.