Writing prompt challange

I've been slacking again and not writing.  Today on the Facebook group "Live Your Legend Creators Guild", a member posted a writing prompt.  The challenge was to pick out your favorite book, flip through it, stop on a random page, skim the page for a sentence that speaks to you.

So, I'm cheating a bit.  A little while before I saw the post, I had sent one of my favorite Winnie the Pooh quotes to a friend who is going through a rough patch.  The quote is:

“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you.” 
― A.A. Milne

Amazing how a children's book has some of the best advice.

One of the hardest things is life is to remember you are all of the above.  As I have read many times in various texts, the negative comments stick with you much more than positive ones do.  I try to remind my friend daily of his worth.  It's hard to overcome 50 years of negative comments.  And what never ceases to amaze me is he is usually the first one to remind me of my value when I get down on myself.

I once asked this friend why he values me as a friend.  I was so overwhelmed by his response, that I printed it and carry it with me in my wallet.  Here is the first part of it.  "You are an intelligent, insightful woman whom I respect and admire.  You have the ability to communicate things to me that I have a difficult time understanding."  Even after 2+ years, I still have a hard time seeing myself through his eyes.  I seem to let the negative comments from strangers and acquaintances override his compliment.

So each day, I greet my friend (through google chat) and remind him that I care.  And that simple act each day reminds me to be positive.  Some days turn out better than others but each day starts fresh. And he (and a couple other close friends) are always with me even though we are apart.

Luckily for me, I wake each morning to a house with a loving husband and three children whom I love very much.

Rainy day subbing in the 7th and 8th grade

The Reading and Social Studies teacher asked me weeks ago to sub for her today.  It is a rainy, rainy day and remarkably the students are subdued.  Sometimes on a rainy day they can get a small case of cabin fever, especially when there have been other rainy days recently.

It's always interesting to see what lessons I will re-learn when teaching.  This morning's 7th grade Social Studies class was a review of the three branches of the Federal Government.  Eighth grade social studies was a lesson in growing urbanization in the late 19 century.  Eighth grade reading class was a continuation of the reading of The Pearl.   Now as we have a few minutes to prepare for the afternoon, it will be a repeat of the 8th grade classes plus an extra "free" bell for me as another staff member is coming in to teach 7th grade reading where they are reading Tom Sawyer.

One of the eighth graders asked me this morning if I read The Pearl.  I'm sure I did but it has been so long ago that I remember nothing about the story.  Maybe I will use my free bell to see how much of the story I can read.

Home cooked meal?

Got a taste of what a Sunday dinner might look like in a few years. My niece, Victoria Hancock came for dinner with five college friends since they miss home-cooking. Not sure if grilling hamburgers and hots dogs qualifies as a home cooked meal. The "kids" (6 college, 2 high school and 3 sixth graders) took over the big dining room table with grandma while grandpa and the rest of the adults ate in the breakfast room. I managed to find a seat in the dining room after dinner for some fun conversation. My frig and freezer (2 loaves of zucchini bread went back to MSJ) are a bit emptier and they are welcome to come by again. Just have to remember to tell them to bring their own sodas.

Sacrifice or good deed?

Last week, my sons came home from school with a week long religion assignment.  They were beginning a new chapter about sacrifice.  The bible story that is mentioned is Abraham's almost sacrifice of his only son Isaac.  The kids were to create a chart of sacrifices they made for a week.

In theory, this sounds like a good lesson.  However, as I reviewed the resulting "sacrifices" tonight, I was quite shocked.  Most of what they sacrificed was video game time to do a quick chore or "gave up" computer time so the other could have time (or was it because he had a mountain of homework to do?)

Midweek, I spoke with another mom who echoed my thoughts that the kids were not really getting the true meaning of sacrifice but she wasn't going to complain since she was getting free household help.

I would have much preferred if the focus had been on the more positive side.  Instead of giving up something, I would have liked to have seen them encouraged to do a good deed each day.  I want them to learn to do something helpful for someone else because they want the world to be a caring, loving place not because they can chalk up another "sacrifice" credit.