At the end of first period, I gave each of the kids a kit kat and wished them a Happy Valentine's Day and I told them the only way anyone could leave my class today was to give me or my co-teacher a hug. I really thought they would groan, but to my surprise and delight, my freshmen leapt out of their seats and raced to the front of the room to give/get a hug! And not just partial half way hugs... I'm talking full on bear hugs from almost every one of them.It's a good reminder to me. They come in with their "too cool" attitudes and act like they don't care what's going on and nothing bothers them. And I thought they would hate hugs - and yet clearly they want that loving affirmation of acceptance. They are no different than me - trying to be tough on the outside, but really I just want someone to hug me and tell me I belong.
I always viewed Valentine's day selfishly... wanting to have a boyfriend or a husband... but what made today so special was giving love away, not receiving it. Isn't that how it's supposed to be?
Happy Valentine's Day!
As a teacher, Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. Granted, I teach the little ones so they're a little more excited about it all. But I love their faces when they hand me the gift that they picked out, "I got this just for you because I know you love purple/dogs/Justin Bieber/LSU, etc!" I love being able to give them a gift and they get so excited about it. I absolutely adore this profession :)
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