An Unexpected Surprise

Last summer, when I was in Ottawa for about 24 hours, I spoke like 2400 things with KPF. One of them was about the little kiddo at my work that I also wrote about here. KPF, being the most positive person I know, kept insisting that this kid likes me. I was still sceptical. School resumed in September and she just got meaner. She even punched me as captured in another post. So, I couldn’t imagine this child liking me at all.

Today, I let my students know that I would be away tomorrow. This is the first day I am taking off from work. One of the students said she would miss me. This is my oldest who turned 9 last month. Then, my littlest piped in. She is 8, as of last month, and her meanness now has a sense of maturity about it! In that recently acquired tone, she wanted to know if I was “leaving” them?! I was like “I am just taking a day off and I will be back on Thursday”. Then, she asked for some paper. She was busy for the next few minutes. She only took a little break to ask me how to draw fingers. I told her to trace her fingers and fill the details in. She didn’t even say thanks and got back to whatever she was doing.

Few more minutes later, she walked up to me and handed me a card she made. It had the most beautiful colours on the outside with a nice border, and there was also some writing in the middle (and this kid hates to write). She was very excited for me to open the card. So, I did and saw the drawing of a finger. She smiled and shared that it was her middle finger!

That was the moment I knew that this child likes me. She really likes me.

Addendum:

I shared pics of the card with KPF. This is what my friend had to say: “It looks more like her first finger! i.e. you are #1!!!”

I guess a lone finger is open to interpretation, and KPF saw it from his usual positive perspective.

What We Remember

January 1, 2026, has been a great first day so far. I spent the morning with my friend Manda, and I spent the evening with my friend Kay’s family and Hans and ASid and his girlfriend. (I don’t have a pseudonym for the young lady yet, but I am leaning towards “Amie”.)

Over dinner, ASid and I became storytellers and entertained everyone. It was one of those rare gatherings where everyone present stayed together for the entire time. Usually, Hans and Kay’s son just surface from the basement for grub and then, quickly disappear! That day, they remained to listen to the stories. One of the stories was about ASid’s trip to Paris when he was 13 years old. He reminisced about being there with his first real crush. Apparently, he had wanted to confess his feelings to her at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and unfortunately, he couldn’t muster the courage to do so. About 7-8 years later, he found out that he was also her first crush, and they had a good laugh about it!

It was interesting what I remembered from that trip and what he did!

I am glad for the opportunity to go back in time and add another perspective to a moment. I am also glad that ASid had more on his mind, on that trip, than what I was worrying about.

Honest Writing

If there was ever a female equivalent/version of Smoggie, that would be my friend Manda (formerly known as C). She is like him because she is non-judgemental of anything and everything I do, and that means I can tell her anything and everything. Manda is also like me as she is a single mom with 2 boys. I first made her acquaintance when Hans was in SK and her oldest started in JK. As soon as Manda found out that I was a stay-at-home mom, she put me to work. She recruited me to run her lunch program at various schools. When we met, both our marriages were on shaky ground; however, we were focussed on our boys and that’s all that mattered. In the last 3 to 4 years, Manda has been my rock.

Yesterday, on New Year’s Day, I gave her a call. We spoke at length. Then, we decided to get a coffee and catch up in person.

I told her how I ran into G at a grocery store and we ended up having lunch. When G and I worked on the School Council together, he used to be infuriated with the amount of email I would send … especially when there were disputes between the council and some parents. At one point, he wrote an email to me with the following words - “Stop sending email” or something like that! I reminisced about that and jokingly suggested that maybe that’s still the reason he never responded to any email or text messages I sent him?! His response was that I write too much, and he doesn’t know how to respond to that! Fair enough, I guess!

I must confess that I unequivocally communicate more than perhaps all my friends’ communication combined. I write when I am happy. I write when I am sad. I write when I am upset. I write in response to any feeling I am feeling, and the receiver is whoever is orbiting my universe at that point in time.

I believe Manda and I zeroed in on another tragic flaw of mine. She told me that I can be too intense in my writing. I had to agree. When I write here, I am very mindful and I focus on the positive. When I am writing privately, I am honest to a fault. Perhaps that’s how I lost a few friendships. No regrets!

It is wonderful to be eventually surrounded by people who *see* me and who are not afraid to stick around. I am grateful.

Happy 2026 everyone. Live and let live.