Letters from NYC

“THE IT GIRL”

This morning, when I walked into my son’s classroom, Matthew came up to me smiling and said “Wow Ms. Michele, you look very pretty today.” As I thanked him, Wesley (another classmate) joined us while I helped my son get his gear into his cubby, “Ms. Michele… Ms Michele... I want to show you my new Matchbox Race car.” Taking it from him, I held it in my hand long enough to admire the color, lines and design of the car. It was a model from their new racing series. After making a few positive comments I tried handing it back to him only to notice he was staring at my face. “Is there something else Wesley,” I asked curiously. Wesley swallowed hard and with a great big smile said, “You look very beautiful today, Ms Michele.” Caught off guard, all I could do was smile even wider and say thank you. Not wanting to be left behind, Matthew said as he twirled his pencil in his hand, “Yes, very, VERY beautiful.”

Touched by their innocent sweetness, I smiled even more. Kneeling down on one knee to their level, I cupped each of their faces in my hands and said to them, “You guys sure know how to make a girl feel special.” Suddenly, they both came up and gave me a great big hug. My son, who definitely wanted in on the fun, tried to hug me too by clinging to my neck from behind. Before leaving, I kissed each one on the top of their heads, and paused long enough to tell them that I would be picking up some special books for story time at the end of the day.

There were a few additional events that happened during the day to also bring unsolicited attention to me, which induced a blush or too on my cheek. Unfortunately, that story is too precious for your eyes and will instead be recorded in my person journal .

At 4:30pm I arrived with fun rhyming books in hand to read to the class. When I was done reading, Wesley, sporting dimples with his grin, came up to my chair and asked if he could have dinner at our house. As I tried to figure out how to gently let down this adorable 6 year old, my son told Wesley that we were sorry but we couldn’t possibly go to dinner with him because we had other plans. A bit puzzled, since I knew full well we didn’t have any plans I asked, “and what plans are those, my love.” Putting his small hands on my shoulders he looked up at me over his glasses and said, “I’m taking you out to dinner mommy, just you and me, no one else.” Too choked up to say anything all I could do is just smile and fight to keep my eyes from welling-up with tears. Since I was in the middle of teaching, I couldn’t hug any of the children unless they initiated it. I had to treat them all equally, including my son. So I was truly unprepared for how to act or what to say in that setting; I was truly overwhelmed with love for my son.

As two tears escaped, the floodgates opened. I just couldn’t help thinking: “My son wants to take me out to dinner.” It’s one of those moments I expected to experience when he was much, much older, not at age 5. The regular teacher stepped in to contain the mushy emotional scene, so the children wouldn’t be alarmed by my silent tears. She did this by asking them who would take Her out to dinner. A very long period of silence ensued.

She asked again, “is there NO ONE who wants to take fun-loving Ms. Danielle out for dinner?” Again silence, only this time the children turned to me for verbal cues on how to answer. After another long pause I offered, “How about if we all go out to dinner in the back yard at the end of the school year and have a big party?” The kids aoorived heartily with shouts and jumps of joy. This sent a clear message to Ms. D., that my party was far more preferable to them than dinner with her. For a brief moment in time I was “THE IT GIRL” once again.

That’s what I love about children, they are so pure, so loving, so innocent; and sometimes so brutally honest, you just can’t ignore their truthfulness.

Posted by Michele at April 7, 2005 10:00 PM