Not me in this picture, fyi. I couldn't decide what to take a picture of.
They say that the average classroom teacher will make 1,500 educational decisions in one school day. That does not include non-educational decisions like, "can i get away with throwing myself out of this window, faking (or not faking) injury, and going to the hospital if these kids do not get quiet?" (I'm kidding, I only thought that once). Or, "Should I say something to that kid about standing up for herself and being proud of her accomplishments instead of apologizing for them?" The point is that during a given school day, it's nearly impossible not to think about something or someone else, not to have to decide something, not to have to make a split second choice - something even as little as "which kid should I call on?" It makes going home and deciding what to make myself for dinner, almost too difficult.
But when you do start to make dinner and an email comes in from an athlete's parent that ends with, "thanks for all you're doing for my daughter, she really takes your advice to heart" - somehow it makes everything quiet. It's not the praise or acknowledgement that make it so meaningful. It's that she definitely didn't need to say a word, but she made a decision to thank me. I didn't have to make any decisions; I was the decision. I am grateful for people who make decisions to make someone else feel special. It's so small. And it's so big.
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