Thank heavens most kids eventually grow up

I have to remind myself of that regularly. And when I say grow up, I mean, mature into responsible adults. And I'm glad that my teachers remembered that about me.

I'm so glad my chemistry teacher didn't remind me twenty years later that she had overheard me whisper a comparison about the size of her small feet and the size of her boobs-- that I wasn't sure how she was able to keep her balance. I'm still not convinced she heard me, since the person I was whispering that rude comment to couldn't even hear me. But she made me think that she could, and I was mortified about it for years. We went to the same church, though, and as adults we became friends.

We all do such stupid things at times as kids. And I'm so grateful that most teachers remember that fact and demonstrate grace towards us. It was such an epiphany for me when I eventually learned that teachers were real people, too. It makes me smile to recall the looks on some of my students' faces when they'd see me at the grocery store or church. Like I'd escaped from school, somehow-- you know, the place where I lived. Sometimes they didn't even recognize me when they ran into me out of my natural habitat-- the library.

I was always in awe of my English teachers in high school. English was my favorite subject, and a big reason was because I had some wonderful instructors-- Mrs. Franklin, Mrs. Macomber, and Mrs. Allen. The first two moved away years ago, but I still see Mrs. Allen when I go home to visit. She was one of the hostesses for my wedding shower thirty-five years ago, and three months ago she was in charge of the kitchen at the church where they fed everyone after my mother's funeral. Kind lady, and I love her for it.

And like most teachers, I've seen my share of immature behavior from kids, too. It devastated me to see one of my favorite students steal a pen from my office. I've also caught students stealing at the book fair and they still lied to my face about it. A student cussed at me in Spanish in front of a class of thirty students, and when I met with his parents about it, they believed their son over me. I took a boy to the office for beating up on another boy in one of my classes, and his mother pulled him out of school to keep us from disciplining him. Last I heard, he was on trial for rape, so he didn't grow up well. Some students rolled their eyes or back-talked me when I expected them to do their work. And there are more examples, but I try not to dwell on the bad behavior.

Those incidents were the exception, though, and not the rule, and it's gratifying to see so many students grow up to be hard-working, responsible adults. And even some of the worst-behaved students in school turned out to be amazing adults.

We educators wipe the slate clean each day and each year with the knowledge and hope that most of these kids grow up eventually.

Because we did.