Quiet Day Today.

No grade 6 kiddos today - which means my schedule is blessedly light for a first day back from vacation! The grade is away for a week of team-building and outdoor education, they stay at a camp and come back closer than before, a real community.

This is been going on since I attended schools here, but due to my arthritis issues I was not allowed to go. In hindsight, it would have been a disaster to have me far from home and have to monitor my meds and health, and many of the activities I just could not participate in. So much of school has changed, it is much more accesable to many, and yet so much has still not.

I spoke of this with a musician in our band over the weekend - he's having arthirtis issues now at age 60, and he can't imagine having those same issues at age 4. Truthfully, I can't imagine NOT having those issues - the massive health struggles probably shaped who I am today. I'm not exactly in a place where I can say I am grateful for the struggles, but I will say it most likely gave me a sense determination that's stuck with me until now. Most importantly, it has helped my current relations with kids. Many of them have their own backstories that affect their learning. I know that even though I was one of the "smart" kids, on some days it was quite difficult for me to sit quietly with throbbing knee pain (especially when I got to high school -eek!). It really affected how I saw the world around me, and my interactions with others. I hope that it has at least led me to a place of kindness and compassion. Today maybe I'll try a little harder to put that into practice with my fifth graders who remain behind in my rehearsal room.

JRA info from the National Arthritis Foundation