Validation.

Day 67

Thursday

Sometimes one good thing happens during the day and because it is so good it seems like it is the only thing that happened. Thursday was all about and only about the box from Mom. Having skyped with me in one of my more morose moments after the breaking of the foot incident she took pity on her eldest (and undoubtedly favorite) child and had my cousins who just so happened to be spending the weekend with them draw me some feel better pictures. Moms seem to have a special way of knowing just what will make you smile and forgot the bad parts of life. Ripping into the box I saw my Birkenstocks sticking out. Not that it was warm enough to wear them, but it was so good to be reminded of my tree-hugger ways, being stuck in a city of divas. Then came snowflakes decorated with smiles by Carter and Ellie and wonderfully colored out side of the lines pictures of Mickey Mouse and other more original works that we shall just call ‘abstract.’ Besides the holistic dark chocolate my mom even threw in some deliciously lip smacking good cookies. I know that the rest of the day was slow and lonely. But the box with the card covered in a picture of the Northern Lights was the best re-charge I’ve had in a while. Like Pandora’s box erupting with reminders of those who love me and are thinking of me I let the warmth flow out and out and out and up into my heart till I was so light with joy that I floated above the bad memories of the week, of the loneliness I was trudging through and the city I couldn’t seem to befriend. I only wish I could have boxed up all that joy and marked the box return to sender so my family could know just how much I love them and feel my gratitude as intensely I as wish they could.

My day didn’t need to be any more special than it already was, but as I was on my way out of my landlord’s house after tutoring her children, she caught my arm and said, “I want you to know, Andres’ teacher called a parent/teacher meeting 2 weeks early to discuss Andres’ participation in class [here I take a HUGE gulp]. She said that he is finally talking in class in English and has stopped being very quiet and speaking only in Spanish. I told the teacher that he has a new American tutor and even though she speaks with a different accent, she is helping him. The teacher agreed, you are making him more confident.” Thank god my Spanish isn’t fluent because I was at a loss for how to gush my overwhelming joy and thanks. I managed to mutter how glad I was to hear that Andres was participating and that what I really hope to teach my students is how to be confident in another language, regardless of their level and to always be motivated to try. I also added something about how smart her son was; really he has a knack for languages and all things that moms like to hear. :)

I had forgotten how wonderful it is to be validated myself. As a teacher, you tend to focus on validating your students, but when it comes back around to you, it certainly puts a smile on your face. Because as I often tell my students, I already know English, it’s YOU that needs to practice and learn it. So let’s go! (And I meanwhile need to practice being the teacher.)