Friday, December 18, 2009

Basking in happiness

This morning, I enjoyed my peppermint mocha while reading Beth Moore's Esther study. She wrote about enjoying the little moments of happiness, grabbing on to them and basking in "lightness."

This afternoon, our schools were dismissed 1 hour early because of a few flurries (a fact that made the Northerners laugh, but I was genuinely concerned about my last of frozen pizzas at home should the flurries stick for more than an hour). Our Hanukkah party and book exchange party, which were scheduled to be back to back, were now smooshed together as parents flooded in early to join the party but also pick up their kids early.

Needless to say, I was expecting chaos. I hadn't made a backup plan for a 2 hour party being squeezed into a 45 minute period.

As the party unfolded, there were smashed goldfish in the carpet, stickers all over the desks, and oil from the latkes covering the reading table.

But my kids did beautifully, saying "Thank you" and enjoying each other and their parent's company. And then, the most wonderful thing happened.


The snow flurries began! Outside our second story window, big fat flakes were falling from the sky, and a dozen kids ran to the window to see. Truly, in North Carolina, December snow is a big deal! I hated to be "that teacher" and calm them down, but with lots of running over my computer cords, it had to happen!

All "classroom management" aside, it was such a special afternoon, and I'm so thankful for my wonderful class, room parents, and the sweet hugs I got today!

I feel so blessed by the Lord to have experienced this great day with these cutie patootie kids.

3 comments:

Angela Watson said...

I have never heard of a Hannukah party. Are your families mostly Jewish? Why not a holiday party?

Anonymous said...

We have a few Jewish families, and one approached me to ask if she could make latkes and play the dreidel game. Those kids in my class felt really celebrated!

-the rookie

Angela Watson said...

The latkes and dreidel were a great idea! Love it.

Oh, so I see. You did a bunch of different things for the holidays: one was the Hannukah celebration, one was the book swap, etc.