I know that a lot of my stories about my kids at school tend to revolve around bathroom duty or lunch.  That’s because it’s the time I have to really interact with them, observe them and talk with them about things other than music.  Like today for instance, as I’m trying to hurry kids through the bathroom to get them to lunch, two 6 year old boys are lingering at the large trough like sink, talking to each other.  The soap dispenser is just above the sink and if not all the soap is caught in the hand, it slowly slides off the side of the sink onto the floor.  The two boys were watching to see which glob of soap was going to hit the floor first, so I just stopped and watched for a minute until they both  exclaimed “whoa!!” as the soap hit the floor.  My first instinct was to hurry them along, but I would have missed the big show. Such exciting stuff for a six year old!

As I walked in the lunchroom, I walked by another boy as he was opening his lunch box and heard him exclaim “oh my gosh” in the most astounded voice.  Mom had packed brownies in his lunch and the disbelief in his voice that his mom would actually put something as glorious as brownies in there was completely overwhelming and the main topic of conversation at his table for some time.  Down the table from him was another little boy who was using his fork as a catapult to shoot squashed french fries at the girls around him.  He thought it was hysterical.  The girls, not so much.

As I observe kids in their element, I sometimes have to stop and think about how young they really are and consider the expectations I have for them.  Like when I’m watching little kids give each other big hugs or putting arms around each other and the teacher in me wants to say “keep your hands to yourself”, but the mom in me just wants to absorb the sweetness of their friendship.  Just think about it – I have students who only began walking maybe four years ago and I’m expecting them to dance correctly to music within a specific form with other 5 and 6 year olds.  While I know there are expectations, sometimes I just need to let go and let them them enjoy the movement with all its imperfections and not be so concerned about getting it right.

But it’s not just my little ones.  I love watching 4th graders tossing beanbags in time to music or interpreting music with scarves.   Right beforehand they’re trying to act oh-so-cool and then I hand them a scarf and they’re giggling with delight.  I have them take a written test on tempo and dynamic vocabulary and expect them to understand terms in Italian and I forget that it’s only been a handful of years since they learned to speak in complete sentences, read and write. And when I take the time, I marvel as how the brain learns, how it picks up language and the meaning behind the language in such a short amount of time.

I love when we sing a song, at any level and I hear “again, again!”.  It reminds me of my own kids when we were playing something fun.  I watch them do the most bizarre things like bend straight over and put their head on the floor, or turn their hoodie around backwards and put the hood over their face or stuff their jacket under their shirt at lunchtime.  Not sure why they do any of those things, but they sure do laugh when they do.  And again, it’s my job as a teacher to stop a lot of these behaviors, but there’s a part of me laughing at the behavior myself.  Sometimes I forget how young they are and how everything is funny to them.

Perhaps it’s because we’re instructed to not allow them to be children anymore.  That might sound a little harsh, but as teachers we have so many mandates for things that must be taught and assessed that we forget that they’re just young children.  And in order for teachers to get everything done they need to do, we expect kids to sit for long periods of time in relative silence, when maybe just six months ago they were allowed to talk whenever they wanted about anything they wanted.  Maybe the things they do are enjoyed and laughed at at home, but we reprimand them at school.  There’s a fine balance of getting things done that need to be done and still allowing kids the freedom to be kids.

Sometimes I forget.  Until they run up to share that they finally lost that tooth or they went to the women’s basketball game or they got a new baby brother or dad is celebrating a birthday.  Then I remember that these are just kids who want to be with adults they can trust and and be themselves with.  Just a kid.  Sometimes I forget.