My kids: All 25 of them

Yes, that says 25.  And no I'm not Octomom or a Duggar.

I'm a teacher.

An educator.

Another mother.  Sometimes, their only mother.

A confidante.

A mentor.

Occasionally a kid's worst mightmare.

Sometimes the only one who hears them, listens to them, cares for them.
Let me say that I think it's pretty common for any teacher to refer to her class as "my kids."  It just sort of happens because at the end of a week, I've in fact spent more hours with those kids than my own kids.  So naturally, you begin to think of them as yours.  This year I teach two classes and my kids have doubled!  I really have 52!

After the first few weeks of getting to know them you know their personalites, how they handle redirection and if they even like school.

After a couple of months, you're in a groove.  You no longer have to think before you say their name and you get their names confused with someone's elses less too.  You know with whom they can sit, and those they can't be within a mile of.  You can tell whether their attitude towards school has changed, whether or not they like to read,  and you can tell if they respect you.

We're now less that 70 days away from the end of the year.  The downhill stride and the long awaited warmer weather.  And now, I know my kids inside and out.

I can look at a paper and the handwriting and can tell you which kid wrote it without a name on it.
I can look at their faces at 7:50 in the morning and can tell if it's going to be a good day,  or not.
I can look at their face and tell you if they are really sick, or not.
I can look in their eyes and tell if they're telling me the truth, or not.
I can tell them I love them and they know that I mean it.  Because by now, I do.

Here at the end of February, these are the kids in my homeroom:

1.  A quiet cherub who loves gymnastics, is social, struggles in class at times, but tries her hardest.

(I call my students cherubs from day one, because they are.  This year we made it to the 3rd six weeks before someone asked what it meant.  I asked them why they'd been letting me call them names all this time.)

2.  She's new to the school this year, extremely bright, very shy, but brave enough to run for student council, and won.
3.  A sweet young man who has heart trouble and will undergo heart surgery on Friday.  Yes, heart surgery.  yes, he could die.  Yes, I'm scared.

4.  Another great kiddo who is shy and quiet, respecful and is a pleaser.  While not a super strong student, he tries all the time.

5.  Awesome girl who is taller than me, funny, witty, athletic and talented.  This is my second year with her.  (I taught some of these friends two years ago in third grade.)   She has a crush on the boy across from her.

6.  This cherub is adopted, has many pshycological issues, tends to lie her way in and out of things, has a mom who really should be getting extra support at home and has seen three other girls adopted and leave her home. Her parents are getting divorced and now Daddy's gone too.   She can not handle being successful so she continually sabatoges herself.  My heart aches.

7.  This sweet girl has a mother who is dying, is holding it all together in school, has three siblings who are special needs and is a primary caregiver for her younger siblings.

8.  This sweetie has severe bladder issues, but she won't use the restroom.  She's at risk for bladder damage and failure at the age of 10.  She;'s in the gifted program.

9.  This kiddo is funny, bright and sure of himself.  He occasionally get things confused, but he can laugh at himself and we can laugh with him too.

10.  Admittedly, this one can make me bananas, but I know he has a heart of gold.  He talks too much, can't focus long enough to get his work done, but he is wonderful.  He did try to make himself puke today to get out of class, but I was onto him and we wouldn't let him go home.  (I did give him a trashcan though :)  He's one of the only boys that give me a hug at the end of every single day.

11.  Another kiddo I've had before.  Now he's battling asperger's and ocd.  He's dyslexic but worked hard enough to get out of the dyslexic program.  He wants so hard to be accepted.  His asperger's has now pushed him to bullying and my heart breaks.

12.   This angel looks like Bella Swan, and she's just as shy and quiet.  She beams when I say I'm proud of her.  She has to work harder than the others.

13.  This young man is so bright, and extremely funny.  He makes my day brighter, and he wrote me a note that I will keep in my "happy file" forever that says he knows each day will be a great day in my class.  He appreciates my sense of humor, and I his.

14.  This sweet girl has the lead in the school musical.  She's smart and funny and learning that it's hard to keep all your balls in the air when you're juggling too much.

15.  This boy may be the heart throb of the class.  He struggles greatly with ADHD, has to take more meds than his high school brother to function.  When he's on, he's amazing.  When he's not, I still love him.

16.  This boy is the only of a second marriage.  His parents are much older than the rest and I can tell that is hard on him at times. He makes sure at the end of every day that my room is in perfect order, and I've never asked him to do that.

17.  I''ve had this young lady before.  She loves birds.  She's in the gifted program and can understand things and has insights that no one else can.  The rest of her classmates are immature in her eyes, and she's right. :)

18.  Another gifted girl.  She has so much voice in her writing.  She will know no boundries when she's older.

19.  This young man is extremely sensitive, can be a follower or an amazing leader.  He wants to please so badly, any one on one talk brings him to tears because he's so nervous he did the wrong thing. 

20.  This sweet girl has had four bone surgeries on her leg before the 4th grade.  She always has a smile, asks too many questions at times, but ultimately only wants to do the right thing and be right.  She is one of the sweetest students I've ever had.

21.  This sweet girl is the skinniest little thing I've ever seen.  Her parents are divorced and it's ugly.  Things at one house are really hard on her.  She sometimes comes to school without even having brushed her hair.  I wonder what home is like.

22.  This sweet boy is also OCD, with severe anxiety.  He constanly uses hand sanitizer, he chews on his shirts, he covers his ears.  He's so smart and loving.  He loves to read the same books that I do and we have wonderful discussions about books.

23.  This sweet boy has the best smile.  He truly listens and looks at you when you are talking.  He tries harder than most in my class.  He was brave enough to let me know someone was bothering him, and did it so respectfully that I was taken aback.

24.  Another repeater.  Great kid, sense of humor and smart.  Baseball is his life and often Monday mornings are hard because he's exhausted from tournaments all weekend.  He is someone the kids trust and like, and rightfully so.

25.  This one could probably teach my class.  She's another one who does the little things that keep the room running and I don't even have to worry.  She and her family have a farm close to the school.  In our very suburban neighborhood, she knows that money can be an issue.  She is responsible and mature.  She lost her smile a few weeks ago, her Pappy has lung cancer and he's going through radiation.  Her best friend is the boy who's having surgery on Friday.  The weight of the sugery is weighing on both of them.

So there are half of them.  I could go on and on.  I could tell you how much they make me laugh.  I could tell you that we all laugh together just about every day.  I could tell you that they make me crazy and I sometimes even have to raise my voice at them.  I could tell you that at times I just shake my head and cover my eyes because I can't believe they just did/said that, or they put that on their paper.  I could even tell you that today when I gave them their middle school registration packets I almost cried because of how much I'll miss them.

In the midst of this crazy day, made crazier by cherub number 11, I realize how much this job means to me.  How much leavity it holds.  And how blessed I am to be a part of it.