The First Day of School

As a child it was my favorite day of the whole school year.  Everything was new.  You saw friend you haven't seen in a long while.  Football games, pep rallies, and bonfires were the norm.  Somewhere along the way, some teachers have lost that pure joy that should be associated with the first day of school.  How beautiful is the diversity that we witness on that blessed day?  Children with wide eyes, excited about learning!  The world at their fingertips!  What are our plans for them?

Years ago, the principal at Lake View Elementary School said something that struck a chord with me.  Friday, my current principal at Mullins High School repeated the same phrase.  "Treat every child as you would want your own child to be treated."  What a profound statement!  When the principal at Lake View Elementary spoke those words 10 years ago, I was a new mother, whose eyes were just opening to the love I felt for my daughter.  How does this play out, though?  How do I as a parent want my children's teachers to treat them?

• I want the teachers to want my children to be in class.  I want them to be happy when they walk through the door, not frustrated that the "bad ones" always have perfect attendance. 
• I want my children's teachers to be prepared every day as if that day will make the difference.
• I want my children's teachers to lovingly correct my children.  I am under no assumption that my child will never misbehave, so rather, I would like for the teacher to calmly address the problem and then engage in the business of learning.
• I want my children's teachers to call me or write me when my children are doing something right.
• I want my children's teachers to prepare my child for the harsh realities of the world.
• Even if my children's teachers do not believe in God, I want them to lift up religious beliefs.
• Finally, I want my children's teachers to have time for themselves outside of the school building, because I know that they will truly be better educators if they do so.

I hope for the 2010-2011 school year, we are all able to celebrate the differences in children and make every child feel someone out their cares about them.

What does this have to do with Disney?  Well, of course I can link anything.  If you have the time and have never seen the production, look up the fireworks show, Illuminations:  Reflections of Earth.  The lyrics of the song, "We Go On" are perfect for the school year coming. 

Pretty picture this week?  A snippet from Illuminations:



"We Go On" : Music by Gavin Greenaway, Lyrics by Don Dorsey (c)1999 by Walt Disney Music Co. (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved.  Song performed by Kellie Coffey

With the stillness of the night
there comes a time to understand
to reach out and touch tomorrow
take the future in our hand
We can see a new horizon
built on all that we have done
and our dreams begin another
thousand circles 'round the sun
We go on
to the joy and through the tears
We go on
to discover new frontiers
Moving on
with the current of the years
We go on
moving forward, now as one
Moving on
with a spirit born to run
Ever on
with each rising sun


To a new day
We go on
We go on

Crazy Dog. . .

To say our dog is crazy is an understatement. . .to repeat something my husband said recently:

When he was a puppy, he fancied himself a fish.  He swallowed a spinner bait late one night, making it necessary to call the local Humane Society representative to come and help us remove the bait from his mouth.

When he was a year old, he fancied himself a deer.  He was shot by a hunter with a small caliber deer rifle.

Last week, he fancied himself a possum.  Our chickens had been being terrorized by possums, some even killed.  We laid a live trap for the possums so we could catch them and release them into the swamps nearby.  Our first capture was not a possum, but a Cocker Spaniel.

Today, apparently, he's a stunt double.  And he did a poor job at that.  He's put a huge gash in his back.

Right now, he's laying down on a blanket beside me.  If he planned to never be let off of a leash again, his plan worked.  (I hope he doesn't miss all of that farmland he was once able to run on)