Kids Are So Caring!

Amman, Jordan

I've been very sick this week, so much so that I stayed home from school on Wednesday, but my supervisor said that she was going to postpone all my scheduled assessments till I had come back to give my students their review for those assessments, so I decided I had to be back in school today no matter how miserable I felt (which was pretty miserable!). Anyway, I only had 3 classes to teach, and I'm not scheduled for cafeteria or playground duty on Thursdays. Or so I thought.

However, when it came time to take the kids to the cafeteria for lunch, my TA refused to go, because she'd had to do my duty for me the day before. I was in great pain at the time, just counting down the seconds till I could see the school doctor, but this made no difference to my TA, and I had to take my students to the cafeteria anyway.

So there I am, sick, exhausted, clutching my stomach in pain, trying to keep my kids from running amock in the cafeteria. And eventually I can't keep the tears out of my eyes.
Much to my embarrassment, the students start to notice. "What's wrong, Miss Maryah?"
"I'm sick."
This gets me several hugs, which was sweet. Now I've got a small crowd gathered around me.
"Why don't you go to the doctor, Miss Maryah?" someone asks.
"I have to stay here with you now." Maybe this is unprofessional, but I'm beyond caring at this point.
So then the kids do the sweetest thing. Four or five of them march off together to the principal at the other end of the cafeteria, and a minute later, there she is, offering to take my cafeteria duty so I can go see the school doctor.

They can be real rascals, but I sure do love those kids of mine!