Page 15 of Husband of the Year
“In Mexican?” Andrew asks, his shaggy blond curls bouncing as he tilts his head.
“Mexico. Yes. In Mexico.”
“Were there sharks?” Alex asks, genuine fear on his face.
“No, no sharks.”
“I’d be afraid of sharks,” Alex says.
“Olan was there. He’d protect you,” Austin says.
“Yes, Olan was with me. And I’m pretty sure sharks would be scared of him.”
“But not Illona,” Audrey adds. She always remembers the details. “She stayed home with her mommy.”
“And Gonzo,” Amanda adds. “How’s Gonzo?”
“He’s fine. He missed me terribly, but he was well taken care of, and now we’re all back together.”
Kindergarten students want to know everything about their teacher. And Gonzo is the star of most of my stories, so they’re always curious about his antics and well-being.
Realizing that my quick model share is going off the tracks, I attempt to regain control of the train.
“Ben, why don’t you start?”
I decide to pick someone who’s not on the A-Team, the nickname I’ve given the group ofAfriends, which gives me half the class as an option. “One fun thing I did on break was…” I remind him of the sentence starter.
Ben smiles and, before I can comment, says, “One fun thing I did on break was losing a tooth.” Theswhistles in the void in the front of his mouth.
“Oh, we need to add that to our tooth graph at calendar time. Don’t let me forget,” I say.
Ben nods quickly, and I know he and the other children will remind me.
I acknowledge the next child, and they soon take over, regaling me and each other with stories of snowmen, puppies, siblings, and movies. Miraculously, I don’t flub any of the A-Team’s names, and after reconnecting through sharing and a quick song about letter sounds, we’re ready to start our day.
“I thought since we only have a few months left of kindergarten, we could talk a little about resolutions we have for the rest of the school year.”
Immediately, confused faces stare back at me, and I continue. “Remember, a resolution is kind of like a promise you make to yourself. We made them back in January. It’s a goal you set for yourself.”
The sea of faces becomes slightly less confused.
“Well, that’s the idea anyway,” I say. “Some people try to exercise more. Or eat less candy.”
“I want to eatmorecandy,” Brian shouts, and the children giggle.
“Well, yeah, more candy sounds good to me, too,” I say. “But we’re going to focus on school. What’s something we want to do better at school?”
“Like getting across the monkey bars?” Riley asks.
“Exactly,” I say. “You’ve been trying all year, right? And you’re almost able to get across on your own. That’s something you want to achieve.”
Some children nod slightly, and I smile, knowing they’re grasping the concept.
“It could be something on the playground—like the monkey bars—or something in the classroom. Like reading or writing.”
“Or counting,” Danny says.
“Yes, or counting.”
