"I was talking to one of my friends online a couple of weeks ago, saying how all these little kids are always holding onto my hands or my skirt, and as I was saying that a random little guy crawled into my lap and just stared at me. And my friend and I agreed, I must have MOMMY tattooed on my forehead. No joke, these little kids run to me like I am a lolly pop or something. But I feel like Mommy even more to my students. When you are in the islands (and I am sure with many other places) you are not just the teacher. You are the one to fix ripped clothes or sew on buttons or whatever. But let me tell you, teaching Ebeye makes me even more of a mom to my kids than other places would. Things that parents would do in other places, well, the responsibility falls on me. Like going to the dentist...
I have spent the last two days taking 31 kids to see the mission dentists that came here. Any of you who are parents, you think you have gone through your share of calming down kids in your time, but I think I have you beat. I had 31 checkups yesterday, 24 of which needed either fillings or extractions, about half of which I needed to be present to hold hands and hold heads in place as kids struggled to get free of the impending doom upon them. After 3 hours at the
dentist yesterday, I got the list of kids who needed to come back today, and well, let's just say I have spent the greater part of my day keeping my kids calm and holding crying kids, getting prescriptions for Valuum (yes...), and I had a bloody tooth fly at my face... Watching the kids you love scream and fight, but having to hold them down, oh, I don't like it very much. But knowing that I can be there to hold their hands when they are in pain, and that they want ME to hold their hands, well, I can't say no to that. It is hard, but it is a job I am willing to take on :)"
Written exactly four years ago from today. Sometimes I can't help but stop and think about how incredibly different life can be for the same person, on the same calendar day, if you just add a few years in between. At times I am grateful for the fact that I am sitting on a cushy couch with a laptop on my lap, but other times, I find myself missing the challenges of life there, bloody teeth and all.
I have spent the last two days taking 31 kids to see the mission dentists that came here. Any of you who are parents, you think you have gone through your share of calming down kids in your time, but I think I have you beat. I had 31 checkups yesterday, 24 of which needed either fillings or extractions, about half of which I needed to be present to hold hands and hold heads in place as kids struggled to get free of the impending doom upon them. After 3 hours at the
dentist yesterday, I got the list of kids who needed to come back today, and well, let's just say I have spent the greater part of my day keeping my kids calm and holding crying kids, getting prescriptions for Valuum (yes...), and I had a bloody tooth fly at my face... Watching the kids you love scream and fight, but having to hold them down, oh, I don't like it very much. But knowing that I can be there to hold their hands when they are in pain, and that they want ME to hold their hands, well, I can't say no to that. It is hard, but it is a job I am willing to take on :)"Written exactly four years ago from today. Sometimes I can't help but stop and think about how incredibly different life can be for the same person, on the same calendar day, if you just add a few years in between. At times I am grateful for the fact that I am sitting on a cushy couch with a laptop on my lap, but other times, I find myself missing the challenges of life there, bloody teeth and all.
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