Childish

So much of what I see in children every day reminds me of my adult life, and I find myself wondering, "Do we ever really grow up?" (this is long, been thinking about it all day)

So I'm going to do this entry in two posts. I'm going to start with the bad, so I can end on the good.

Every day I notice and deal with students' behaviors that aren't necessarily admirable; but they have a good excuse, their brains aren't yet fully developed. It is somewhat concerning, however, when I think about my life, and realize I'm still dealing with these behaviors at 22.

Let's just preface this with, kids will be kids, and I love them for that. Growing up is rough, there's no getting away from that.

Yesterday Kurt traded his $10 dollars of lunch money for two marbles and a used watch that only had one plastic strap. He was thrilled with the trade and truly felt that he was getting the best part of the deal. Then with me, there have been moments that I look back on and think, "I totally got swindled", but at the time I was perfectly happy with the trade. I'm very anxious right now trying to determine which home will be the right home for us. Big decision, I don't want to get swindled.

Today I learned that one of my students has developed ulcers as a result of many things, but primarily worry. I started to see one area of worry as I observed her throughout the day: girl drama. We're halfway through the year, and the girls are getting mean! They misunderstand each other, they say things they don't really mean, they get emotions tangled with their logic, and then they cry and worry about it. I had finally dealt with so much of this today that I stopped and looked six 8 year old women in the eyes and said, "It's a bad day for girls...shake it off. Just make sure that you are being a good person and trying to be nice, and try to make up for the times that you aren't." But that drives me crazy, they feel stupid for being mean, and try to apologize and then the other girl won't except the apology. In fact today the other girl was literally running away, because she didn't want to talk. (rolling eyes) This doesn't seem to get better, I dealt with some of this in high school, but for the most part have been fortunate to avoid this. Then I grow up and decide to work in a career with mostly women, and I witness lots of mean girliness in my colleagues. We're talking 40 to 50 year old women...is there no hope for our gender? This poor student. I love all of my students so much, and I can think of very little I can do to help her. I so badly want to take that worry and pain away from her, but again girls will be girls.

Manipulation, some of my kids are masters at it, thanks to their parents. Towards the beginning of the week, I almost let one of my students take control of my attention, and that's just what he wanted. Crying, whining, and he is really good at it. Thank goodness a little voice came into my head and said he's manipulating the situation, remember your behavior management tricks. So, we went the rounds and I eventually got him to comply with the rules. I do this sometimes, too, crying to try and get my way. I pout, it's true. I'll let my real emotions seep through, in hopes of getting my way. I control this urge for the most part, but every once in a while I'll try it. Like maybe we're deciding where to go for dessert, and Aaron wants pie, but I want cold stone. I'll admit that I'll pretend like I'm perfectly happy with pie, and then pout. Aaron always catches on. I don't do this much anymore in our marriage, it's faster to just be honest. Then we duke it out for dessert.

Stay tuned for the happier comparison tomorrow....