A Simple Thank You

When I was younger, I had to write thank you notes. For everything. As I got older it seemed to be ingrained in me that this is what I should and needed to do. 

Then.

I had kids. 

And the idea of "having" to write a thank you note seemed like one more thing to do. 

So I stopped. But that didn't mean that I wasn't appreciative of things that were given to me. 

As a teacher, I am given a lot of things. 

By my students. 

All the time. 

They know my favorite candy bar is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. There is a story to that. I blame it on my mother. 

I get a lot of Reese's. 

I have every intention of writing thank you notes for all of those gifts, but it seems to be a chore for me rather than something genuine. So I don't do it. But I still say thank you. 

Today though, I am writing thank you notes. Because I need to and want to. I want to thank the students who took the 31 day Slice of Life Challenge with me. They need to know that I appreciate their willingness to write every day. Or almost everyday. At home. On their own. They need to know that I value their writing and that it is important. 

Today I am writing thank you notes. Because it feels genuine and right.

And the thought of how they will feel when they receive a card in the mail from "their teacher" makes my heart smile. 

  

Silver Linings

I have always seen the glass as half full. My mother was the same way. It's probably where I got it from. I remember the day she told my sister and me that she had cancer.

She was matter of fact about it.

She was going to have surgery, chemo, and that was that.

She would get better.

And she did.

Until it came back.

She was going to fight it out.

And she did.

Until she couldn't fight anymore.

I often think about her when things are thrown at me as they were today.

My son woke at 4:30 in the morning with a fever of 102 degrees. I knew he was starting to get sick because he wasn't feeling the best the last two days. So I was on the phone with the doctor at 8 a.m, with an appointment at noon for a strep test. I am glad I listened to my intuition because he tested positive. Instead of complaining about this, I felt appreciative that he got sick over spring break instead of a school week, so I could spend time with him.

As I woke up, a few minutes before eight, to the pitter patter of feet upstairs, I quickly realized our basement had flooded. The carpet at the edge of our room was soaked. I woke my husband who quickly started moving things out of the other room, where most of the water was. I helped him move what I could but only after I had called the doctor for my son. Then my husband started tearing the carpet out. We have wanted to figure out why the basement  floods when we get A LOT of rain and this was the last straw. Over the course of the day, I have sucked  up the water out of that room more times than I can count, but now we know where the leak is coming from and have a plan to fix it.

It seems to me that things happen in threes. And if you are keeping count, only two things have happened so far to me today. Well here is the third.

Right after I took all the wet clothes out of the washer this morning and put them into the dryer, the power went out. Keep in mind this was after I called the doctor and my husband tore out the wet carpet. There was no big storm or high winds, just a lot of rain. I was quite surprised because our power hasn't gone out in a few years. After a bad ice-storm years back, the electric company has been proactive and on top of everything so this surprised me. I could have sat and complained about all the things that needed to be done but instead my girls and I played a lot of board games.

I have had a busy day. It seems like it was just one thing after another. But my son is now on the mend, my daughters spent four hours playing outside with a new friend, the power came back on, and well, that basement. It will be dry in time.

My mother, who always saw the glass as half full.