Thankful for a lot, deserving of little...

Thanksgiving is right around the corner-- by the time I finish writing this with a 3 year old sitting in my lap, having to clean, cook and do laundry (ha--just kidding about the latter 3) it may be Christmas. I have so much to be thankful for, and feel like the list is so long, and I am undeserving of any most of it. First, and foremost, I am thankful that I was given another day here on earth. I am thankful that my God still reigns, and lives in me. I am thankful for the parents I had, and the home I was raised in, and the lessons I learned growing up (even the hard ones). I am thankful that my parents instilled values in me, that are so important today. That they taught me how to love, and what it felt like to be loved. I am thankful, that they showed me that they loved each other. My mom and dad are both hard workers, and growing up, I probably didn't appreciate all of their hard work, but I fully get it now, and for that I am thankful. I am thankful that my mom is still here, and fought and won her battle with breast cancer, and is a fabulous example of the word- strong. I am thankful for the relationship that my sister and I had growing up, it has made us stronger now. I appreciate her, and love her more, because of that. I am not thankful that she moved away and left me :( But I am thankful for being able to Skype her! She married a great guy, and I am thankful for him, that they found each other, and he fits in perfectly. I am thankful for my extended family. I am lucky to have grown up with the most amazing grandparents a girl could ask for, they wrote the definition for "selfless". I miss my grandfather O'neal Emory, so much sometimes that it hurts, but am so thankful for the 23 years, I was blessed to have with him. My aunt is amazing in herself, and I am blessed to have formed close relationships with my cousins, that are still strong today. My family, from top to bottom, I am thankful for. From each of them, I have learned something. I am thankful for my in-laws, for raising the guy that I am lucky enough to do life with. For instilling in him, everything I was looking for and more. That they love me, as their own, and I can feel it, every time I am with them. I am thankful that Chad, chose me. That he works so hard each and everyday to provide for us, and to make Owen's future easier. I am thankful that I got to meet Horace Turner, Chad's grandfather. He taught me how to shoot skeet (even though it was a difficult task at first), and had the biggest, most giving heart. There are times I can still hear his laugh, and see that smile. I am thankful that God chose me to be a mommy. That he gave me Owen, who blesses me daily, and makes me thankful for life itself. The sweet and funny personality that he has, and his ability to make me laugh, nonstop. I am thankful for the grandparent's that Owen has, I don't know what I would do without them, and never want to find out. I am thankful for my job, and getting to spend each day, with the most precious kids, who are sponges, and soak it all up. My coworkers, who are caring, dependable, and prayer warriors. I am thankful for my friends. Old and new, who I know I can depend on in a skinny minute, if needed. They make me laugh, put me in place, and I couldn't make it some days without them. Even my oldest, true blue friend who lives almost 2 hours away, that I haven't seen in ages-- I am thankful that true friendships never die. Lastly, I am thankful for all of the setbacks that I encountered throughout the years. I am thankful for the hard times, that I didn't understand. For the "why me's?" and the "not again's". From those I learned the most, and feel that they made me a stronger woman. I am thankful that I don't already know everything (don't tell Chad--I've still got him fooled), it gives me the opportunity to continuously learn new things.

I am thankful for (in no particular order)

• my passion for things I believe in
• sense of humor
• reasoning skills
• my laugh
• health
• my home
• my faith
• my mistakes (even though I never make any) :)
• my strength
• food
• hot showers
• sight
• hearing
• clothes (I know you are thankful I have them too!)
• love
• that I know when to quit
• being free and an American
• the seasons
• hooded sweatshirts
• the little things
• being sensitive
• bonfires
• being me (I am imperfect...but I know it, and like me anyway!)

You are bored, I get it...but I can still go on (probably for days). This isn't all of them....so don't send me a message, saying "what about..." :)  I began this blog by thinking of all I have, or have enjoyed, and am amazed at the amount of blessings I have, and am so undeserving of most of them. I am so thankful for life itself, and everything that it has brought me. I often get so caught up in "life" that I fail to stop to think about it all, or tell those I love that I am truly thankful for them. I am ashamed of that. I knew I couldn't do the "thankful for" face book posts, because I am busy, and absent minded, you would have had days 1-15 on one post, by the time I realized I had forgotten...again. So I thought I would just do it all here. I hope you each have a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you find the time to stop and ponder all you are thankful for, and how blessed each of you are. If you are reading this, I am thankful for you!

"Teachers just teach..."

If I had a dollar quarter for every time, in my short career, that I have heard "Oh, you're a teacher", "you just teach kids all day", "you're off all summer, must be nice", etc...then I would have my retirement already laid out. And, in defense of these uninformed nice people, I understand their point, I get the fact that the comments come from those who don't know, and who have never been in my shoes. But, guess what...I didn't choose this profession, it chose me. And, for that I am grateful. It isn't all rainbows and butterflies, it's hard work. My fellow educators and I work hard, and do things "behind the scenes" that often go unnoticed and unappreciated, but we keep doing it....because we LOVE it. We love the children, we love watching them learn, we love seeing the light bulbs go off, we love helping them solve problems, and watching them explain it to a classmate, we love seeing how proud they are of their work, we love it when they want (did you catch that, WANT) to do better the next time, we love the challenges that some kids come with, and we love to watch them overcome those challenges. I could go on, as a matter of fact, could fill up the whole page with things that we love to do, but will spare you.

We do more than "just teach". The list is enormous, and I won't go in to all of those things that we do, everyday, all day, without thinking about it, we just do it. But, this week, one of those things slapped me in the face. Remember I said, we do a lot of these things without thinking about it...

This week, a former student broke her glasses on the playground. She was devastated. They fell off, and before she could snatch them up, another student came running by and trampled on them. it wasn't his fault, and it wasn't hers. It happens. Life happens, right? She came up, crying, holding her mangled glasses, and even though I taught her two years ago, my heart broke. I knew her story, I knew that those glasses were important, and I knew that I needed to do something. But, like I said, life happens...it slipped my mind, once I got back inside, and was bombarded by 3rd grade recess drama, packing up, and end of the day routines. I never thought about it until later that night, and then vowed to remember to do something the next day. (my mom works at this little girls eye doctor...that is what I am thinking I could do) The next day comes, I run into a sweet friend, my next door teacher, and she starts to talk to me about this little girls glasses (she taught her last year). Immediately I remembered what I was going to do, so my friend and I, drop everything and call my mom, and after a conversation, find out that her glasses were under warranty! Long story short, her new glasses will be here on Monday!!

After that back and forth, and letting her mom know that her glasses are still covered under warranty, we didn't think another thing about it. We were happy it ended that way, but I honestly never thought more on it. But, she did. The next morning, I felt like a 250 pound football player had tackled me from behind, as I was walking in to school, but it was a petite little girl, running to hug me, and tell me "thank you, thank you, thank you, Mrs. Painter". She was smiling from ear to ear, and my heart melted. Her aunt thought about it, and sent us a card of thanks, telling us how much it meant, for us to have done that for her niece. And her mom thought about it, by specifically finding me after school, with a card, and a small angel...because we were her child's angels at school. We did it because we wanted to...not for the fanfare, not because it was in our job description (because it isn't), not for me, but because we knew it was the right thing. I made a phone call. That is all. But, this one single, 5 minute phone call, meant the world to this little girl and her family. And, because of that phone call, I was blessed. Nothing that transpired over the last few days, had anything to do with "just teaching". It didn't involve a book, a test, or data collection. Sure she remembers things I taught her in the 2nd grade, sure she remembers things that my friend taught her in the 3rd grade, sure she is learning things this year in the 4th grade, but I promise you, this will be remembered far longer than those things in a book and longer than anything I could teach in a year.

As teachers, we do more than "just teach" we do more than what is related to education, we are encourager's, we love, we inspire, we celebrate, we pray, we care, we encourage, we fix problems, we counsel, we cry, we worry, we slip food in book bags for those we know won't eat again until they return to school, we wipe tears, we instill values, and we love.

I'm glad that I was lucky enough to have "just taught" her.