Kids at Work

This post is totally dedicated to my work kids. Again, at the risk of sounding super unprofessional, I adore them so much.

Today, I decided to wear a dress to work. I don’t do that usually and so it got noticed.

My littlest one always arrives before everyone. After she settles in, she walks up to me and says, “You look pretty.” And I respond with, “Who took my student and replaced her with an alien? She is not this nice to me!” And she immediately says, “It is me. You look pretty … ugly.” And then, she smiles and I was like “Glad you are still here kiddo!”.

Then, the next kid arrives. This little guy has echolalia and mostly repeats what people say to him. If he says anything, it is related to wanting something. So, it is kind of cool when he says something spontaneously without prompting. He settles in and then, he also walks up to me, and he says, “I like it.” And that was it. He walks away.

My oldest arrives as I was sharing the “pretty ugly” anecdote with the staff next door. She immediately rushes to my rescue and says that “Ms Momley Teacher is pretty” and she repeats it a few times until I acknowledge her.

I have 2 others - a girl with echolalia and a boy who didn’t speak until I got him. The girl has also started speaking sentences spontaneously and before the winter break, she told me quietly, “Ms Momley Teacher, I love you.” And her mother was happy to hear that. The boy who didn’t speak, can’t stop speaking now.

Their parents are pleasantly surprised some days, and I am fiercely proud of all my work kids’ achievements each day.

One of the “other” students once asked me, as he pointed to one of my 2 boys, “what is wrong with him?”. I wanted to ask this student, “what is wrong with you?”. But then I realized he is also just a kid. So, I simply said, “nothing”.