elon, and it came out, Wuke! Wook at the Watermelon! They just ADORE it when I mess something up. But they are so sweet. I was praising them for how much progress they have made (it is REALLY cool to see) the other week, and Luke (Wuke) nodded his head and said thank you, and then very, very seriously, said, "Well, we think you are doing a very good job teaching us how to read." How sweet is that! Somehow, I got the most adorable, sweetest 4 kids in the whole school assigned to me. I just love all four of them and I really look forward to seeing them each week. I am genuinely amazed and proud at the progress they have made, and it really never occurs to me that I own any part of it. I feel like it has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with them. So when he said that to me, I was just like, Awwww! Then I got down to the second school, and it is equally rewarding and enjoyable, but it is like entering a different universe when I walk through those doors. The kids always keep me laughing. They are amazingly funny for third graders, and they love to make us laugh. But the best moments are when they are funny without trying to be. They were trying to work on a project together, and two of them were squabbling over the glue and arguing over what to do, and one girl snatched the directions out of the other girl's hands, and yelled, WE HAVE TO READ THE DESTRUCTIONS! I think this is a combination of direction and instruction. I think it should be added to the dictionary, and people can use it to refer to the bad directions they get with cheap furniture. Also, later on, all 4 of them were being SUPER LOUD BECAUSE THIS IS JUST HOW THEY ROLL (I really don't think they know HOW to actually be quiet, and this is okay, somehow we still teach and they still learn) and the same girl stops what she is doing and shouts at the clock on the wall in extreme frustration: Would you just shut UP! (Um, yeah, because the tick tock, tick tock sound was somehow breaking through all of the noise, funneling directly into her ears and driving her to distraction!).I left that school a little late... and went directly to my in-home appointment with a first grader. I meet with him twice a week, and he is a great kid. He is the one who looked at the clock and told me it was time to leave the other day. I always arrive to in-home appointments a little guarded, because I have learned that there are almost always distractions present that you just don't run into at the schools (like senile grandmas, family pets, family fights, etc). Yesterday, it was a caseworker. She came in and had a LOUD discussion with the parent two feet from where I was trying to tutor this kid. Also, she had to answer her phone about 10 times in 10 minutes and talk very LOUDLY on it to other clients and/or coworkers. Of course, when they were discussing things that related to the child I was working with, he could not pay attention. And then she asked, Can I speak to him alone for a minute? So I stop the non-learning session we were having, and think, this is not my house, where in the heck do you want me to go? She says, Let's go in your room so we can talk privately. Then the two of them go in his room, which is also 2 feet away from where we work, and I am left to sit in awkward silence with the parent, who has just had gutwrenching personal and family issues spilled all over the place for me to hear. I felt awful! We could hear every word the caseworker spoke to the child, and then he came back, and she left, loudly, and I tried to finish the session with this poor child who had been upset by all of the things he "eavesdropped while he should have been doing his schoolwork (I'm quoting the ultra-sensitive caseworker who clearly has a gift for social work)." She actually scolded him for listening to what she was discussing with his parent. I could NOT believe it! I mean, the NEIGHBORS could probably hear this woman! What was her POINT! UGH!
Then I had an appointment to do an assessment, which went really well, other than that they had this adorable, humongous dog (seriously, I don't think I have EVER seen a BIGGER dog than this!) When I first came to the door, he was standing guard fiercely by his owner, and I was really afraid to come in. But once he knew I was okay, he was a big ole bear. The funny thing was that he came in to eat his dinner while I was giving the student the test, and I have NEVER heard a dog eat so loud. I could not keep a straight face. I told him, Your dog doesn't have ANY manners! We were both laughing. It was good, because he had been all tense before that, and then we had a good laugh together over his silly dog, and then he was much more comfortable. Then the dog kept coming over and wiping his face all over my black sweater and pants. I kept trying to act cool about it, just keep giving the test, but it was just absurd! He was such a drooly dog and it was like he was using me as a napkin, just like my kids do. I had long trails of doggy slime all over my clothes. It looked like I had laid down on the ground and let slugs crawl all over me for a few days. Of course, between this dog, and the ultra furry cat that was using my legs as a way to rid herself of excess hair, I started getting very allergic, and actually wheezing while I was giving him the test. And doing my wheezy old lady laugh... I am sure the kid thought I was crazy, but he is at an age where all adults are crazy and stupid anyways. So that was fun. Then I got home, it was almost 8, and I had not had dinner, and my sweet Mom, who had been with Anna for over 12 hours, and had picked Jonathan up from school, fed them dinner, bathed them both, brought them down to our house, you know, basically just been an amazing help all day (Dave had to work until 7:30 also), well, she was getting ready to leave, and could not find her purse. It was not in her house, it was not in her van. We all thought it had been stolen and we all suspected certain undesirables (the rednecks who put up the Rebel flag Christmas lights and who basically live in their garage, and who like to just stand in the middle of the road like cattle or sheep, and who don't have the good sense to MOVE out of the way of cars (I am not just talking about their 42 children who roam the neighborhood in packs, barefoot, but about the adults. I know I should love others, but I really feel the opposite of love for them). Anyways, my Mom was very shaken up, and also out of gas, but luckily had her driver's license and her cell phone and keys with her. We gave her a few bucks for gas, and she insisted on driving home by herself. We did not know what to do, because we have never had anything stolen before... I was really worried about my Mom. So I put my dress shoes back on, with my pjs and no bra, and got in the car and headed back up north towards her house. I saw that she was at the gas station putting gas in her car, so I figured I would beat her to her house. I had this feeling (more like a hope) that her purse was really still at her house. Well, thank God, it was there! I am really, really grateful that her houseguest (Dave's family friend who is finishing up some schooling and stays there occasionally after a shift at the hospital) was not there. We have never actually met, and I busted in the house like a maniac and started thanking Jesus when I found the purse. So that story had a very happy ending, but it was also very upsetting, and it made me think about how hateful I feel towards the Garage People. I am thinking that this attitude is not going to change, and the main reason I really hate them, is that we used to be on a wave hello program (Seinfeldian reference). I would wave, no matter how many times a day I passed by, because they are perpetually outside or in their garage. And they would wave back, like a proper human being. Now, no more waves. They stare at me, waving at them, and they don't wave back. Which I think is one of the RUDEST possible things to do. I would rather they just responded and gave me the finger, or mooned me, or SOMETHING. Or at LEAST have the decency to do the look away, and stare into the distance, leaving the other person to think that maybe they just don't see me! But NO. So after 6 and a half years here, I am for the first time, seriously starting to think about moving. I really dislike these people and their lack of waving this much.
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