Speaking of teachers....

I always thought my kindergarten teacher was an angel.  She was the most beautiful, gentle, kind soul and she took care of me.  She was my 'school mommy' and she wiped my tears away.  She LOVED me...I knew this. That's the funny thing about teachers.  I don't think teachers always realize how children do not soon forget them.  How many children, like me...hang on their every word, remembering and cherishing those encouraging words, and being totally torn down by the negatives.  Every teacher I have ever had left an impression on my life, not always a good one, but I have never forgotten a single one of them.  Teaching is probably the most important job a person could have.

When I climbed on that big yellow cheese wagon to head to kindergarten, I was scared to death.  I remember how high those bus steps seemed and how totally unprepared I was for this whole 'social' thing.  I was so shy, painfully shy, and on top of that I was a pretty-plus-sized thumb sucker with a bladder control problem.  Now I'm just speakin' the truth here..the five-year old Joelle was a mess (and I know you're thinkin'..STILL IS, right? wink wink)  Of course, mom was all over the pee problem and she had met with my teacher, Mrs. B, before the school year started.  So I felt a little better knowing that if I did have an accident, I would have 'backup' bottoms to change into.  Just so you know, I'm leading up to my 'most embarassing elementary school moment' and it's pitiful so you might want to grab some tissues.  Seriously sad.

It was still warm, maybe late September, and we were still having playground time, which I hated.  I could never run fast enough to score a swing and I have never been able to do monkey bars.  The half-moon climber was fun but I was too embarassed to climb alone so I would usually just sit on the bench with my sweet Mrs. B.  Of course, I wasn't adventurous enough to tackle the merry go round.  No way.  The round and round would make me nauseous and I wasn't going to get on there not knowing who the pusher-around-er would be.  It could be one of the very wild little boys that wouldn't let me off.  And that would be..well, the end of the world. I have always been a very 'safety first' type of gal...'born to be mild', as my friend would say.  This particular day, however, Mrs. B decided she was going to get the whole class on the merry go round and she talked me right into hopping on.  I knew I was in good hands and I was actually glad to get off the bench for a change.  Plus, I knew we couldn't go very fast with the whole class crammed on that thing...I had convinced myself to finally have some playground fun.  I was 'participating'...making progress!!!  Anyways, I was one of the first ones on the merry go round so I ended up in the very middle, as the others piled on around me.  Oh, everyone was so excited.  Cheering and laughing.  Mrs. B started pushing...round and round we went.  I was actually having quite the enjoyable time but was starting to get concerned as my classmates were getting more and more excited and LOUD.  "FASTER!", they shouted.  "Faster!"  "Faster!"  We had already been spinning for a while now and I had already sensed the pee pains but I tried to ignore them.  Round and round we went, I was dizzy, I was nauseous, I had to pee, I couldn't hold it.  More spins, more dizzy, more pee pains.  I tried to get Mrs. B's attention but she couldn't hear me above the roar of the kids' laughter and screams.  It was too late.  The deed had been done.  It was almost an out of body experience because I couldn't believe this was actually happening.  I popped in my thumb, with tears streaming.  I was in total panic.  My pee was running all over the merry go round and all over my classmates' shoes!  They were standing in my pee puddle!  'JOELLE PEE'D, Mrs. B!'  'GROSS!!.  EWE!!.  PEE!!!'  'JOELLE PEE'D, Mrs. B'  'EWE, IT'S ON MY SHOES, Mrs. B'   And it went on and on and on and I was horrified.  Mrs. B stopped the merry go round immediately, she grabbed me up in her arms, pee britches and all, and carried me into the school.  She made sure I got cleaned up right away and held me.  She held me for a long time, wiping away my tears.  She could have made me stay the day but she knew I needed my mom and wouldn't want to be subjected to the teasing that was bound to go down that afternoon.  Before I knew it, my mom had pulled up out front in her burgandy Oldsmobile to check me out of school and take me home. 

After one of the most horrible days of my life, Mrs. B had made everything better.  SHE was the only reason I would be able to get back on that big yellow bus the next day.  SHE was my special person.  It didn't matter if the other kids didn't love me, SHE did.  I had HER and she thought I was smart and sweet and special.  I knew it because she showed me every day.  I love you, Mrs. B.