Christmas abounds at Magis York. Today I received my first ever Christmas gift from a student. Granted, it was a butterfly. As the fifth and sixth graders found out at our late October visit to the zoo, I'm terrified of butterflies. Cowering in fear in the butterfly pavilion terrified. Did this seventh grader know that? It's possible she didn't, but I'm not convinced.
I just bought things to spruce up the Christmas spirit in my classroom. I tend to overdo. I've probably overdone it. I don't really care, though. I love Christmas. I love the small spark in the blackness of winter that erupts into a torrent of light. I love the carols. I love the family. I love the feeling the love that takes a physical form in almost every room you enter. I want to share that feeling and excitement with my students. I almost relate to them better through things like Christmas. A lot of me is still a fifth grade girl not being able to sneak a peek in her stocking before Mom takes the annual Christmas morning photo. I'll probably still put cookies out this year for Santa. Maybe it's silly. It just feels right.
In many ways, I need the Christmas season during this time of year. On rare nights, when the air is still and the burgundy, winter sky gives a warm glow to everything shivering the cold, I can appreciate winter for what it is. But most of the time all I feel is the wind, and how it seems much angrier now that the days are shorter and the night longer. And the silence, though beautiful, gives the night a sense of loneliness I've only felt in at nursing homes and bus stops.
This season of love transforms everything into incredible, breath-stealing moments, separate from temperature or daylight. To be able to share such a special time with my students... I don't know, I just feel lucky.
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