Friday, January 4, 2008

Winterim, Day 2

We had fun at Barnes and Noble. My four students all chose books of poetry. Here were their choices:
Dante's Inferno (Longfellow translation)
Dante's Inferno (Pinsky translation with the Italian on opposite pages)
Emily Dickinson poetry
Richard Wilbur poetry

I was encouraged because the 2 students who chose Dante, did so because we studied him last semester, and they enjoyed it. They only read 4 cantos in the fall, and they wanted to read the rest. And the student who picked Wilbur liked the poetry by him that I've had my students memorize. I think the class will go well.

Today, Julia had Girl Scouts. Being a good mama, I put her GS sash, $1 dues, and a permission form -- all in a ziploc bag with her name on the outside, in her backpack. The backpack never left her classroom all day. Then she went straight to GS. But she lost the bag, and all its contents. Sigh, heavy mama sigh. How do children do that? I went to search her classroom. Found her drink bottle and her coat, but no GS stuff.

In her backpack, however, I did discover about 47 mangled, tattered school papers that she'd failed to bring home. It was an evening for tears.

After returning from the grocery store, I found a note on my bed from Julia. "Dear Mama, I'm sorry I made you mad. I know that I don't deserve to go to Girl Scouts. Do you forgive me? Love, Julia"

I think her 17 year old brother, well-trained over the years in how to douse the flames of mama-anger, aided her in her plea. Hm. Sweet note.

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