The Graduate

It hit me like a ton of bricks....

I knew it was coming;  I had plenty of time to prepare for it.....

The time has come for

Charles to graduate from high school!

Today, the seniors got their caps, gowns, tassels, announcements, and extra goodies from the Josten's representative.  Charles brought his bag down to my classroom and we looked at everything. 

WOW....my baby is graduating....that's all I could think...WOW!

Excuse me, but where did the last 17 years go??
It seems like I just brought him home from the hospital...
and now he's finishing high school?

Charles, you make me so proud.  You have grown up to be a smart, caring, hard-working young man, and I love you.  Always remember that I am here for you, through good times and bad, and that you will always be
my baby.

"I'll love you forever.

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living

my baby you'll be."

 

from:

Love You Forever

written by Robert Munsch

illustrated by Sheila McGraw

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I love linking up with Jamie each week for

What I'm Loving Wednesday...

I'm loving All the Rage salon and spas tanning beds!  I know, I know....I'm slowly quickly killing myself....but I love to tan.  I don't tan year-round....maybe for a month or so.  Just long enough to get a slight base tan beginning in spring. 

I'm loving that I have my planning period during the time when Chuck eats his lunch.  We are able to take a few minutes together during the school day and sit down for a bite to eat, providing that no major discipline event occurs....

I'm loving my classroom assistant, Susie Suggs.  I have never had an assistant to work with me and was quite nervous knowing that I'd have a stranger in my classroom .  Well, I hit the jackpot when Mrs. Suggs walked into the room.  She and I are completely on the same page!  When I have to step out of the room for a moment, she picks right up where I leave off and continues instruction and maintains discipline without missing a beat.  I'm one lucky teacher to have a helper and friend like her!!  (I'll post a a pic of her as soon as I get around to taking one.....)

I'm loving that L and MJ are going to visit their aunt Chandler in Berkeley this summer.  They are flying out to California on June 22 and will be home on July13.  They are making their lists of things they want to see and do while in the Bay Area.  Three whole weeks without them....what will I do??  I'll miss them so much, but I know they'll have the time of their lives!!  




 I'm loving The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  I have been reading this novel slowly and enjoying every word in it.  The story takes place in Mississippi in the early 60's and tells about the civil rights struggles in the south and the treatment of domestic help in homes.  Like the children in the book, I was raised during this exact time period by a "maid."  Then, of course, I had no idea about the complexities of just dealing with interactions between the employee and employer.  I feel like I am so wrapped up in the lives of the characters right now that I'm going to miss them when I complete the book! 

PS....I know it's Thursday and I'm a day late with WILW....my life got in the way of posting yesterday!

<3
Jo

Love You Forever

Love You Forever

written by Robert Munsch

illustrated by Sheila McGraw

Without a doubt, this is the sweetest book ever written.  I just found our copy, so worn and loved, on the bookshelf in the girls' room.  I'd written Charles' name and the date that he received the book, October 1994, inside the front cover. 

I remember reading this story to him and choking up every time.  I could imagine him doing some of the same things that the boy did as a baby...pulling books from the shelves, and taking the food out of the refrigerator...and he did do those things, and I loved him.

When Charles got a little older, he continued on the same path as the boy in the story.  He never wanted to come in for dinner and never wanted to take a bath....and I loved him.

Now as a teenager, he has grown into the size of a man, but he is still my baby, and will aways be.

When he leaves home, will I drive to his house, climb into his room and pick him up, rock him back and forth, and sing?  Probably not....but I will love him forever, just like the mama in the story.

And one day, when I am very old and sick, hopefully he will come to me and sing,

"I'll love you forever.

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living

my Mommy you'll be."

And maybe, just maybe, someday he will be a daddy himself,

and he will sing to and love his baby like I've loved him.