An Indulgent Morning

It was a bleak, cold morning as I drove to work teaching 3rd grade at my new school.  I'd been teaching there for 3 months and was beginning to adjust to my new surroundings.  My first 5 years of teaching were done at a Title I school in Denver - I rarely saw parents.  My new school was swarming with parents.  It was easier to get used to than I had originally thoughts.

Each Wednesday morning, I arrived to work to a hot mocha latte on my desk....seriously.  I had regular parent volunteers - the Wednesday volunteer brought the coffee and stayed all morning, the "I'll grade your weekly spelling tests" dad came on Fridays, the engineer that loved to pull math groups came on Tuesdays, the list went on and on...

I arrived to work that Wednesday morning to find my coffee on my desk as usual.  As students trickled into the classroom, I realized that I only had 11 students...out of a possible 25.  The rest had the flu.  The epidemic has begun the day before but this was a little extreme.  My Wednesday parent helper was the mother of a sweet child that looked a lot like D.W. from the Arthur books.  The mom and I had a quiet chat about how I might change the plans for the day.

My parent helper took out her purse, handed me a $20 bill and suggested, "Why don't you take them all down to Starbucks for some hot chocolate?"

So that is exactly what we did...we bundled up, walked the block and a half to the Starbucks on the corner, sipped hot cocoa together.  The students were squished two to a comfy chair, all smiles.  We then proceeded 3 blocks east to the branch library.  We spent an hour and a half, in the children's section, curled into quiet spaces, reading books...talking about books. It was truly an indulgent morning.