the miracle on my first day of school

I've been repressing something all summer. It's true. I knew I was going to have a first grader this year ("Gilberto") with a LOT of discipline problems. I know he has issues because I saw them first-hand last year.
 
Like his daily tantrums.
 
Like the time he punched another kid. 
 
Like the time he whacked the principal with some bulletin board paper trim.
 
And his teacher would marvel at all the TEACHING she could get done whenever he was absent from school.
 
But I didn't let it weigh me down. I thought "I'll deal with this when I get back to school." And then (miracle of miracles!) I actually forgot all about him and had a terrific summer!
 
Then Monday came: the first day the kids came to school. And as I drove to work, I thought "Gilbertooooooooooooooo". Then I sighed. Then I prayed:
 
"Lord, please give me YOUR strength to deal with Gilberto and all his behaviors... or else remove the problem completely."
 
So you can picture my utter shock and relief upon learning later that morning that Gilberto and his family had moved away to a different part of Texas!! I imagine God knew exactly what I would be able to handle and what I wouldn't!!!!

8 comments:

Angela Watson said...

Wow, I am so proud of how you handled that situation and made a conscious decision not to worry! You were right to believe that you'd handle it when the situation came up. Glad things worked out for you, and hope this kid gets a really awesome teacher in his new school!

Jill said...

That same thing happened to me! The class I'm teaching now had a student with MANY behavior problems (maybe not as severe as yours ... but very frustrating regardless!) but his mom transferred him over the summer. I hope that both your almost-student and my almost-student are successful in their new schools!!

Marvelous Multiagers!

JoAnna said...

Aren't those the best blessings EVER! When a student moves, it can be the most exciting part of the year. What isn't exciting is when they taunt you for months on end with "I don't have to do that because I'm moving" and then they never do.

Ginger Snaps said...

HAHA Yay! I prayed that same prayer this year, but fortunately, this friend has caused no problems for me so far!!

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Sneaker Teacher said...

Haha. Lucky you! I had a really challenging student move into my class last year and the move out a few months later...I hated that his family moved so much, yet at the same time I knew that no single teacher had him all year and that would have been really tough so that was kind of a relief for all of us that taught him!

Ellen Marie "Mama" Pike said...

What a great example of not worrying about things beforehand. In this case, the problem child was taken from you.

I hope your school year is going well so far.

Randy et Jan said...

I'm so glad you aren't having to deal with this kid. I'm sure` you have plenty of other challenges this year!! Also glad worrying about him didn't mess up your summer!!!! Love you, Mom

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