Kids

Wednesday I chased first graders around a farm.  I felt these neurotic tendencies arising:  "Where'd Johnny go?"  "WHERE'S JOHNNY!!!!!"  "James, you're walking TOO FAR AHEAD OF ME!!!!"  (In my ideal world, they all would've had on leashes.)  

For part of the visit, we went to a presentation by (the rather hot) Mr. Nate.  Not only did he give an enlightening program on the life cycle, but he brought in a live cow (consequently named Dottie)!  And a chicken he carried around the room allowing every kid to pet it!  I also remember thinking he was surprisingly good with kids, maybe better than I'll ever be (this is the source of my angst over my career).  He also made me realize that with kids, you really always need visuals.  Heck, with adults, so many lectures in college would be better with the proper use of visuals.  That man Mr. Nate had any possible visual someone could implement about chickens and cows, short of an artificial insemination machine.

At lunch, instead of sitting with the teacher like a proper adult, I sat on the ground and ate my Lunchable with a few of the girls in class.  I love watching their curiosity about an older girl.  They look at you a little differently than they look at older teachers, as if they're thinking, "Someday could I be you?"  They can't ever picture themselves being old; old to them is 20s.  Heck, old to them is 14, or even third grade.  I just hope that if I somehow manage to reach out and touch their lives, it will be positive.  The few times I've messed up and not positively influenced a child's life absolutely haunt me.    

Riding the school bus back to school, I realized I felt the same way I always did after field trips as a kid; smelling of sweat and dust and sunlight, exhausted but smiling.