Oh, the joy!

I told you how I re-bought the Diary of a Wimpy Kids for my boys -- I say "re" because they are probably the fourth or fifth set I have bought since they came out. As a classroom teacher, my boys know that their books are really "our" books, and they make their way to my bookshelves at school. And, as all teachers know, there are a few "missing" books at the end of each year.

I don't get upset, however. I know those books are somewhere in someone else's life, and hopefully they will get passed on or read by brothers and sisters, or even be reread...

I hope that they remember me too. Each of my books has FORREST written somewhere on it in Sharpie, so I know that they will be reminded. Hopefully they smile and say, "Oh geez, I have her book - I remember how she got me to read xyz..."

I know students in my class remember a few things about me. How I cry during Sharon Creech's "Love that Dog." How my favorite author of all time is Eve Bunting. How I was always pushing them to read for themselves...to laugh, to endure, to grow.

Oh how I am missing the classroom right now. The boys went back today. They had Spring Break last week, and we had a ball. I got up relieved I didn't have to rush to get ready with them, but my heart aches to get in with those kids.

Back to the Diary books...the boys each took one to school today - after they wrote FORREST in black Sharpie on the cover. Maybe they will bring them back, maybe they will loan them out. Whichever happens, I am ok with. Kids are reading.