A few weeks ago the heat at school broke down. We scrambled to move our classrooms into another building on campus. I loaded my little easel cart with its plentiful buckets and charts and shelves and proceeded to roll it up the hill - a relatively small hill, but a hill nonetheless. A 4th grade student offered to help me. We made it about 25 feet before hitting the first bump. We successfully maneuvered the wheels through the cracks and crevices another 10 feet before losing a wheel. We shifted positions and hoisted the cart up another 10 feet, with about 25 to go. Nope, another wheel was lost. At that point the 4th grader stopped and said, "Mrs. Miles, I think we need to call for backup." He was so sincere and so serious, but I just laughed, a real hearty laugh. I knew that all the teachers and administrators and maintenance were working like crazy to get everyone moved up this literal mountain before all the kids arrived in about 3 minutes. I feel bad about my response. ...
balancing life, work, and family