Touching moments

This evening, we went to the school for their annual yearbook signing/ice cream social.  The cafeteria is the location, and all around the inside is the artwork the kids did in Art Masterpiece (each kid picks his favorite, and then they get hung up all over the place). 

It was cool for me to see what the kids I taught picked out, and find Nolan and Ben's favorites. 

I got the big kids their yearbooks, shooed them away with tickets to go get their ice cream, and planted myself at a table with my friend Jane.  I think it's safe to say that of all the school events, this one is the loudest, and the most chaotic (all the kids running around "sign mine" "no, sign mine" and eating ice cream too...a little sugar goes a long way, lol).

I didn't get Ryan a yearbook.  He's a kindie, none of the others got yearbooks when they were kindies either.  But he started to get all indignant about it, so we were trying to talk him down...and you know how reasonable an upset 6 yr old can be.  I swear, that boy, he's got a whine/cry that could shatter glass, it's so high pitched.  I'm sure the dogs in our neighborhood start barking when he does it, and I actually cringe, shrugging my shoulders up earward as much as possible before I tell him to knock it off.  He'd already demolished 2 ice cream bars, and was sitting there annoyed with me, when Nolan hands him what is left of his; his attempt at distracting the little guy.

I give Nolan an "are you sure?" look.  He nods yes back at me.

"You rock!"  I mouth to him.

"You owe me!"  he mouths back.

I couldn't help but laugh.  Smartass!

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around to see a girl from Ben's class standing behind me.  "Hi, Ben's Mom.  Thanks for teaching me about art."  "Oh, you're welcome, sweetie," I reply, "Which piece did you pick?"  She blushed a little--"I don't remember." "That's ok."  She hands me her pen.  "Would you sign my yearbook?"

AWWW. 

"Of course."  I'm handing back her book to her and a girl standing next to her, also from Ben's class, asks me to sign hers, too.  That made my night, it was so cute. 

I told Jane that I couldn't remember their names (I mix one of them up with another in the same class), but that the little girl that came up to me first was always happy to see me and really enjoyed the lessons.

As we sat there and kept an eye out for our kids, there was a group of sixth graders behind us.  We got a glimpse of next year that for me at least,  both frightened me and left me appalled (at their behavior).  No, no, no, how can it be that the kids we know and love will morph into creatures like that?  Tall.  Flirty.  Mouthy.  OY!!

I'm now praying summer passes ssslllooowwwlllyyy.

Which means that it'll fly by, and before long, I'll be sitting there at the next signing/ice cream social, a sixth grader by my side, privately lamenting that he's leaving the elementary school wading pool for the big pool, the one with the deep end, of jr high.

I wonder if they allow floaties there?

'cause I know I'm gonna need them.