IMG 7691

The school year is over. We have two half-days next week, and then we are free. Over the past week, I have had little parties for my classes. Even the classes for the evil children. (They exist.) This week, some of the kids stopped before they ate their cookies, candy, brownies, and chips to say grace.

"Wait. We can't eat until we say grace," one sixth-grader said.
"I don't do that. I'm a Christian," a classmate responded, and I damn near fell over laughing.

"I do."

"So do I. I'll say it. God is great/God is good,/Let us thank Him/for our food."

And they dove in.

The kids prayed without shame or second thought. That was cool. A good idea when faced with my brownies, too.

Later that 45-minute segment of time, I taught the beloveds how to make origami flowers. I suggested they give them to their house principals, and they did. It was really something to watch them become enthusiastic about gratitude. To see them respecting authority. To see authority respond in kind with lollipops and silly but heartfelt words.

This week has been a dream.