First Day Back

I could barely sleep a wink last night. Maybe it was a bit of jet lag, maybe the Sunday night scaries on a Tuesday night after 3 1/2 weeks of holiday, or maybe something else. But I finally got out of bed at 4:30, had breakfast, and got ready for work. I was so excited to see the kids after such a long break.

It was a beautiful day here in Pretoria, sunny and temperate. The kids came back, excited with stories about what they had been doing. There were plenty of smiles and laughs to go around.

I brought a suitcase and a half of books, games, bookmarks, and more. The kids were excited to see I’d gotten much of what they had requested!

One thing I did while I was there early was to clean out the desk of one of our students who moved away. Children of diplomats typically leave in either December or June and we had just lost one of our dear ones. In her seat sack, I found the sweetest notes that she had written, but never given me. I miss her daily hugs and her infectious curiosity.

I’ve been working with another student who at first I thought just needed to gain some independence, but soon it became clear that she often feels anxious and has perfectionist tendencies, and so I changed up my approach with her. The explanation that she wrote for her thinking in her math workbook absolutely made my day!

My vacation and time away was wonderful! And it’s nice to be back teaching.