a peek inside the fishbowl

I haven’t mentioned this here, but Emma has a new teacher. Well, not so new anymore. It happened about a month ago. There had been a lot of talk of a new class being formed. The school was going to hire a new teacher. No one knew who this was going to be.

Emma’s (now) previous teacher brought up the issue of the new class, in an effort to introduce the idea that some children (no one was saying who) would be chosen to be in the new class with the new teacher. 

One little boy raised his hand and volunteered to go. And apparently, so did Emma.

Emma told me about this when she got home from school that day.

“Mummy,” she said. “S. said that some children from our class will be going into the new class.”
“Oh yeah?”
“And I volunteered.”
“You what?”
“I volunteered!”
“Oh-kaaaaay. Why?”
“S. was talking about the new class and I said that I would go.”
I was surprised, to say the least. “Don’t you like your teacher?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you like the kids in your class?”
“Yes.”
“So why would you want to go into a new class a month after school has started?”
She shrugged. “I like to try new things, I guess.”

Yes. I was surprised.

Her (old) teacher called and we talked at length. Sure enough, Emma was chosen to be in the new class. She still couldn’t tell me who the new teacher was, but made it clear that Emma wasn’t chosen because she volunteered, but because she was well-grounded, and was the kind of kid who would deal well with this kind of change.

This shouldn’t have surprised me so much. We’re always telling the girls that change is exciting. Whenever we pack up and head out the door we congratulate ourselves on the potential that lies ahead of us. Even a trip to the grocery store or the park can contain an unexpected twist in the storyline: “See, if we didn’t go to this park we wouldn’t have met the tattooed guy with the baby gecko” etc etc. 

They believe that an unexpected adventure might be lurking behind every corner. The more things we do, the more potential for adventure there is.

We were at my mother’s place earlier this summer, and we decided to check out a little trail that starts next to the highway. We’ve been driving past it for years and never had time to stop. Not that the girls needed much convincing, they are Outdoor Girls, and have probably seen more woodland trails than most kids. We wandered, not really knowing what was around the corner, when we suddenly came upon a teepee-type structure next to the trunk of a giant tree. It must have started with a few fallen branches, and someone decided to add other branches too.

The girls were absolutely enchanted: “We didn’t know THIS was going to be here mummy!”

They climbed into it, around it, under it …

“See girls, if we hadn’t have stopped we wouldn’t have known.”

The transition into the new class didn’t go exactly as we thought. Emma had a case of the nerves the night before. Interestingly, her worries were different than mine would have been (as an adult, that is.) I would have been worried about who the teacher was going to be, but she was halfway through a really good book in her other class and was sad at the thought of not finishing it.

“And what about the job board?” she asked me sadly.
“You have a job board?”
“Yes, we all have a job and certain routines we do every day.”
“I’m sure there’ll be a job board in your new class too.”

The kids were introduced to their new classmates and their teacher on a Friday afternoon.
I was waiting for Emma in the schoolyard after school. The crowd parted and there was Emma, running towards me, hair flying, grinning widely, her eyes shining and bright.

“I know who my teacher is going to be!” she shouted. “It’s N !” She threw her arms around me and hugged me tight. She was laughing and close to crying at the same time. Her eyes were wet with tears that weren’t going to spill over. I found myself laughing and getting teary too. She was so happy. I was so happy for her.

You see, N. had been a favourite teacher’s assistant. She is young, and very fun. Emma has known her for a couple years and she is a great favourite with the students. And now she was going to be her new teacher!

In her eyes, Emma took a risk that paid off. That girl has the heart of adventurer. I’m so proud of her.