The Great Educator

I was waiting for the school bus to arrive yesterday since I wanted to give one of the neighbor boys a card with a little money in it as a thank you for taking care of our mail.  Kaden is ten years old and is about as responsible as any adult could hope to be. Everyday he checks our mailbox, pulls out the mail, enters the code for the garage door and places the mail inside.  From what I can tell, he has never missed a day. While I was waiting, the first bus came with the younger children. Two of the neighbor kids ages 7 and 5 got off the bus and ran to their dad.  The dad started to take them home and the 7 year old decided to stay with me and wait for his other brothers.

He had a book he was reading and it looked like a pretty advanced book.  I asked him about it and he gave it to me with a quick synopsis.  It was about an emperor in China and how he banished dragons to some mountain range.  He told me to look at the map, which I did.  There was a representation of the Great Wall of China and I asked him if he knew anything about it.  He did not so I started to explain why it was built, who built it, what it looked like, how it functioned etc.  He kept looking at me and nodding and about three minutes later the other bus turned the corner.  I handed him back his book and he smiled and said, “Mr. William, I didn’t understand anything you said, but it seems interesting.”  Perhaps I’ll only sub in higher grades!

Dinner was a lot of fun and despite Patrick’s best efforts; he couldn’t eat everything that I prepared.  I got caught up on how the kids are doing in school, their friends, their extra curricular activities and the normal dinner time conversations, which is always fun.  Olga has gotten back into running and it shows, wish I could run a bit but these knees are not cooperating, not to mention my lungs.

It was a crisp 37degrees this morning when I went for a walk but now it is up to 72 and it feels delightful.  I’m about to hit the yard and get some work done while the sun shines and before Colin and Meagan arrive. 

Best to all, Wm