Broken down again (in a good way)

The unthinkable has happened. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen. I tried hard, not very hard, but hard enough to prevent this from happening. But, they did it, they did it again. They got me. I moulded an emotional barrier around myself with all natural materials possible, but they chipped, chopped and ground away until they finally broke me down. I have put my hand up, I have thrown in the white towel, I love these kids. God Damn it.....

My new kids in Yellow and Green class have finally made an emotional impact on me. When I took them over five months ago, I knew in my mind that I would be leaving Kids Herald School. So in order to make this 'leaving' as easy as possible, I said to myself not to get too involved with the kids on an emotional level. I made a serious conscious decision to care less about my job on all aspects, with the kids being the pinnacle of this. My last kids had a tremendous impact on my contract decision making, hence staying at the school a second year, a decision I have no regrets about at all, quite the opposite. What I really craved was a peaceful departure from my tenure at Kids Herald School.

It was impossible though. It was going well. I was able to teach them well, to the best of my ability, but keeping a safe distance from them. Having a larger number of kids (9 and 8) in the classes, than before (6 and 4), made this mission possible. However, no matter how much I pushed them away, literally, they kept chipping away, looking for weaknesses, and I finally cracked. Here are some short profiles on a couple of kids that stick out. With pictures of course. You could say these are the reasons.

Eric. Currently top of the tree. Number one kid. A comedy genius. An old man in a young mans body. He has a peeing problem. He goes to the toilet about 10 times a day, in fact, maybe more. He has a fantastic sense of humor. Situation comedy. I have never seen this in a child so young before. I could learn a thing or two from this kid. He knows he's cute. He loves to pose for a picture. He always questions a question, with a question. Comedy in itself (for a 7 year old anyway). He has artistic talent, he draws creatively. Everyones wants to sit next to him at lunch. Everyone wants to be him. He is Eric.
This is Eric, posing, yet again, for the camera, styling his new hat.

And his new clothes.


Lucy. Currently top of the tree of girls. She was called Cute Lucy last year, for obvious reasons. She's cute. This year I call her Lucy Loo, I call Wendy, Wendy Woo. It sounds good, kids love it. Lucy is very cute. She's a typical cute girl. She's a 7 year old with the mind of a rich, pretty, sweet 16. Daddy looks after her. She expects to get what she wants. If she's moody at school, leave her alone, if she's happy, then keep her thay way. Sounds horrible, but, it's charming. If she's smiling, then no doubt, you'll be smiling too. That what she brings to the class. She is Lucy.
This is her, at the forefront of this image, presenting me with a green tea, tea bag.

Here she's again, showing me her new book.


and here they are together......