Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Red is the New Blue

Yesterday, at Lucy's school (day care), they had an end of year celebration - a graduation if you will

Her teacher, Miss Julie, spoke lovingly and kindly of the entire class

The love and appreciation she has for all our kids was clearly evident by the smile on her face and the slight waiver in her voice

At one point, as she addressed the proud parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles crowding around her and the kids, she signaled out one of the kids in the class

Now this was quite uncharacteristic for Miss Julie as she is a firm believer in treating everyone the same…. no one gets more attention, more hugs, more kisses or more love than the next kid….

With Miss Julie, we are all on equal ground – it’s one of my favorite things about her

But yesterday, she signaled out one of the kids and quite deservingly so

I’m paraphrasing here because I can’t quite remember it word for word, and I may be including some of the conversation we had after the celebration was over, but the gist of what she said was this:

She said there was one young person in the class that throughout the year, they could always rely on for his positive attitude and outlook on life

That this young boy could turn anything around simply by finding something else to be happy or grateful for….and this had a profound effect on the teachers and the kids alike

Miss Julie said he'd run out of blue paint, his favorite color, see the full jar of red paint and declare that red was his new favorite color - even if only for today

This young boy she was talking about was one of the first kids we met when we started at the school – he’s one of Lucy’s favorites (we know this as she follows the poor kid around like a puppy dog) – and he’s one of our favorites

His Dad was the first parent we met there, and my first Dad crush

Like his son, and like his Dad, they are both sweet and happy and kind and considerate and always smile when I see them or they see me

And his older sister is this bundle of brains, energy, drama and compassion that makes me want to hug her as hard as I can for in her, I see me at that age

The three of them appreciate everyone in their lives so much…..it is them who make the rest of us feel special just by knowing them

They have enriched our lives just by being there every day at pick up and drop off

It’s been a humdinger of a day – another in a long line of many
A day where you sit back in your chair take a deep breath and google what should I be doing with my life (true story, I did that this morning)
A day where you want scream and yell and be cranky and hate your job
And I was dangerously close to that not too long ago

But then I remembered the time Jack ran out of his favorite color paint, blue, so he decided red would be his new favorite color…even if only for the day

So I took a deep breath, counted my blessings and tried really hard to slow down, find something good in the midst of all that was going wrong, and shared it with at least one other person

And with that, my humdinger of a day isn't so bad anymore

So thank you to my little friend Jack for reminding me red can be the new blue  

And thank you John and Sharon for giving the world this ray of sunshine 

Maria the Mum