Just breathe, I’ve been telling myself.
Fine. Half the class is 20 minutes late, making the whole class late, but we’re supposed to be done on time regardless.
It’s okay that a kindergartner is licking strawberry juice off her knife. Repeatedly.
We’re learning even though another student is crying while cutting peaches. Why!? I ask.
“I don’t know! I just am!” She whimpers back.
Another student manages to keep falling out of her chair.
Breathe.
Because a father comes into the class to see chaos at the doorstep, asks if you’re okay.
Realize your goal to move onto cracking eggs next week is shattered and you’ll have to repeat chopping next instead.
Just breathe. Because the year has just begun and there are another 40 or so weeks to go.
Because eventually, fingers crossed, the knife licker, the peach sobber and the chair tumbler will figure tings out and be there with you cutting, mixing, sitting up more and falling down less.
It’s a new semester.
Just breathe.
Good luck!
I was thinking of the “peach sobber”… when you asked her why is she crying, she may not be able to articulate it (or may not yet be comfortable with you enough to talk about it) but I would guess that she’s also getting adjusted to the first week of school and probably misses her mom, or it may be triggering some past sadness for her. Our culture tends to be afraid of showing emotions. Giving kids the space to cry or feel any feelings they are having is important for them to process it and move on. I just wanted to mention that. Any new thing is an adjustment and it will all come together.
I don’t think it was past sadness/ memory. I’m pretty sure she was just overwhelmed, it being the first week of school and all– it’s a long day. Then starting after-school… It’s a lot. She’s in kindergarten and it was just too much change, too long away from home, too many new people… We let her cry it out. I had a counselor take her aside and she was better by the end of class.