Friday afternoon, or should I say, late morning, the boys walked in, all manner of school paraphernalia thrown to the wayside, and arguments as to whom could do something or another commenced.
I was working and had my Facebook tab open. I clicked over and updated my status:
Later, one of my friends had asked me about said winter vacation. She was thinking that perhaps were were leaving on an actual vacation.
Ten minutes after I posted the reply, another friend updated her status. In an attempt to keep her anonymous, I can't share the actual post. However, her message was one that I completely needed to be reminded of: During extended vacations from school, some children experience the loss of a minimum of two meals, a routine, and a feeling of safety.
I immediately felt guilty about what I had written about my children. It didn't matter if it was passively directed to me. It wasn't that long ago that I used to cry on the last day before a two-week break because I was worried about a child, knowing there was nothing I could do about it. In two short years, I'd lost sight of what really mattered.
Instead of immediately complaining about my children's current behavior in an attempt to be funny, I should have remembered that I only have this one chance with them. I should have stopped what I was doing and went in to see what was going on with the boys. I should have taken that time to remind them the proper way to enter the house [again] and spent a few valuable minutes talking about the morning.
That time is gone.
In spite of the forgotten socks on the floor, continually reminding to put the dirty dishes in the sink, and repeated attempts to discourage mindless bickering, I am going to keep my friend's wise and timely reminder forefront of my mind.
I would like to encourage you do to the same. While we are in the hustle and bustle of this time of the year, please think about the children that do without. Regardless if without means, food, safety, love. Or sadly, in some cases, all the above.
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3 comments:
Awesome message. Thanks for sharing. I take issue with the statement that you are a wanna-be writer. See my blog How To Be A Writer at Fragments Of Daylight for my opinion. You are very talented.
Thank you so much, Jen. I am not why it's taken me so long, but by your prompting, I have changed the header.
I will be checking out your blog post!
This is a great message, and it is good to remember. Some of my students fall into that category, most (from my class) fall into the one you first posted about. Let's pray that becomes the norm for more kids in 2012!
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