Over five weeks later...

As I sit here on the back deck enjoying a cool breeze, I cannot believe that I have already been in Philly for five weeks. Time is flying by. I have survived yet another busy weekend, and I am starting to sense some sort of alternating pattern. It seems that when a Saturday class with the kid's goes well, then the Sunday class with the kids will involve more discipline than teaching, or vice versa. I suppose this is God's way of keeping me humble. This past weekend went relatively well, despite starting 40 minutes late on Saturday (I don't know why this surprises me anymore), trying to juggle 12 children all trying to use one hot glue gun at once and succeeding in gluing everything except for their mother's day craft, and trying to keep the girl's from beating up the boys during the very competitive review game on the days of creation.

We have wrapped up the seven days of creation, and I am planning on focusing this next week on review of the unit before we move on to the Ten Commandments. Sometimes it amazes me that I am down here in Philly teaching children. I was never one of those children who while growing up people said should be a teacher. I'm not particularly crafty at all; I'd probably do a better job running drills in the army then cuddling children and wiping away their tears, and if a child (or anyone for that matter) vomits, needs help going to the bathroom, or any other gross bodily function. I can be found vomiting right beside them.

Yet, despite all this I find myself pouring over crafts on the internet, learning to discipline and teach at the same time, finding creative ways to engage the children in the lesson, and pouring over parenting advice on how to deal with difficult children, learning disabilities, and the list goes on.

This entire experience in Philly has given me a new-found respect for those who dedicate their lives to teaching and being a mother. After just three hours on a Saturday afternoon with approximately 9-15 children, I am ready to go straight home and take a nap. It amazes me that people can teach 30 children at once all day, and then get up the next morning and do it all again, or parent multiple children day in and day out. My hat goes off to them.