Today I was dissed by a 5 year old...

Back at the school today. Started with dusting the Grade 3 classroom. Mom, you would be proud of my cleaning skills.

It was fun being back in the school and having the kids be stoked to see us back, getting the "Hey Miss Jen!" in the hallways. I feel blessed that God has given my brain space to remember many new names, it makes me own heart happy when I can say a personal howdy to the kids.

I was able to work one-on-one with a few kiddies today, which is nice to get a bit more interactions. The kids have been so eager and welcoming to us all that it's swell to be there. It's hard though to see that such small classrooms are so chaotic compared to larger classrooms back home, and that the learning levels of some of the students are still not up to par. That is not uncommon however to have a few kids a little slower than the rest, but seeing how there is such a lack of support or extra time for the teachers to input into their students makes it harder to leave. After only two days in the school, my heart is definitely attached.

Got to play with some of the kids in their after school program today as well. It was stellar playing basketball with some of the little boys and girls, and duck-duck-goose. Holy smokes, cute kids. Paris, (yes, an odd name for a boy), makes me smile, and we were able to play some Lego together for a while. And Lauda, this darling chubby-cheeked chicka had on the cutest dress and was so focused on building a jumbo-lego house.

Lil' Jimmy, who I thought was wicked cute and sweet, turned out to be a little....mischevious fellow. I did not know that a 5 year old could have so much attitude bottled inside. He uses his cuteness as well...those cute little eyes look at you, and before you know it, that boy is whippin' out lingo I couldn't believe was part of his vocabulary, quite comical. As he accused me of trying to swipe his lego, or even sitting there plotting to steal it, I could not help but laugh. He also proceeded to whisper cruel words that will take me years to recover from.

Jimmy: She so pretty, hey man?
Nathan: Yeah, I know she pretty.

Little Jimmy looks up at me. (And yes, I was thinking this too for a split second, "Aw, how cute and sweet. He thinks I'm pretty. He's not so bad after all.")

Jimmy: Not you! Her! (pointing to Lindsay at the end of the table).
Insert the sound of my heart shattering.

Ah well, despite that, I faced my fears and hung out in the Grade 7/8 room doing a poetry lesson with them. Praise the Lord I was able to remember some of their names from a few earlier encounters, because by knowing their names, it blew a few of their socks off and they seemed to have a bit of respect for me. It's scary enough being in a large classroom with a bunch of kids, let alone a classroom that has TWO tarantula spiders for pets. What the heck!? I made it out alive.

Now, tomorrow is our last day, strange the week has flown by. I'm finding it hard to decide where I want to be for my final day. Hanging out with Granny and other friendly faces at the shelter, or being with the kiddies at the school...time shall tell.

Tonight holds organizing the basement, hot chocolate and an intense game of Killer Bunnies, woot woot.

Once I have more computer access, I'll post photos of all the special kids and people from the school and the shelter. And hey! We have our first day of sunshine and blue sky!! Happiness.