The Letter


While I was gone, the sixers performed plays for the little kids about the Mix It Up lunch project. As they worked on their zines and stories this morning, I read to them from a stack of thank you letters written by the smaller kids. When I got to a letter with the words, “Thank you for doing the plays. I can’t wait for Mix It Up at lunch because I do not have any friends,” the sadness of the letter startled me and I’m ashamed to report that I started laughing uproariously. The sixers just shook their heads at me as I tried to pull it together. My whole life I’ve had a problem with laughing at inappropriate moments and I explained this to the sixers. One supported me with the kind words, “It’s nervous laughter. That can happen when you're uncomfortable.”
“Exactly. Thanks for understanding,” I replied, suppressing more chuckles as I looked at the letter again, which was written in rainbow colors. The sixers never quite got back to work after the incident. I had no one to blame but myself of course and I wondered once again if someone like me really belonged in the teaching profession.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi Lee! Welcome back! I hope you felt my encouraging thoughts Friday morning. I don't know what to say about inappropriate laughter except that I've been there, done that. It must be hard to explain to kids, though. I think this is one of those things that maybe kids don't experience. Or, if they do, people just view is as kid silliness. As an adult, it's hard to "hold it together" all the time.
LH said…
Hi Marion,
I did feel your encouragement. As all my technology worked perfectly, I was sending out a series of thankyouthankyouthankyou's after it was all over. I'm reading a pretty good book right now called Light ON Snow. First novel I've read in forever. You might like it.
Anonymous said…
I laughed uncontrollably at the boy who, sneakily reading his book under the table, hit his head HARD when he sneezed. Not quite as inappropriate seeing as he had it coming.

Glad you are back, missy.
KC said…
I laughed inappropriately very badly this fall. my am. litt'ers were being a little giggly about some lines in the crucible. so i gave them a stern talking to about the seriousness of the matter. and then the kid who was the worst giggler, who was also reading the part of john proctor, did his next line which was how he never knew his wife to be "the devil's bitch" and i had to rest my head on the desk because of the horrible, uncontrollable laughter that came out of me.

it was very embarrasing.
LH said…
okay, this inappropriate laughing thing seems to be going around. makes me feel better. on a different note, I screamed in agonizing pain today when I was going down the stairs and a sixer just hopped down the stairs behind me, landing on my calf. Kind of.
It really hurt and I screeched like a maniac. Poor guy was kind of freaked out, but come on! Let's not leap onto people's calves. I could have been killed.

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