Today our Room Parents arrived with gifts for the teachers, from all the families in our class. Children were excited to watch their teachers tear open paper and uncover a gift. Rarely am I at a loss for words. I was when I opened the gift.
It was a book, Our Aqua Room Family. Family. That word somehow becomes cemented in September. It is much like a badge, something everyone wears, feels and just knows. We’re a family.
This was the first page:
Our family comes from many towns:
Our hair is straight, our hair is brown,
Our hair is curled, our eyes are blue, Our skins are different colors, too.
We’re girls and boys, we’re big and small,
We’re young and old, we’re short and tall.
We’re everything that we can be
And still we are a family.
We laugh and cry, we work and play,
We help each other ever day.
The world’s a lovely place to be
Because we are a family.
The following pages in the book were done by each child, drawing our Aqua Room family. Page after page depicted a child’s view of friends and teachers.
Here is Savannah’s page:
The final page was the pinnacle:
The definition of family!
Life’s greatest blessing. A group that dreams, laughs, plays and loves together. Those whom you can always count on. Always present not only in the good times. The most precious gift.
That’s my class. The thread of being and doing (family) becomes who we are. Children and teachers always talk about being a family, because we are. Thank goodness the parents know and understand that, and feel the same way.
Here’s to Family!
Jennie
A Teacher's Reflections 
Congratulations, Jenny! You have a wonderful class. I will pass this post on to a teacher I know. Merry Christmas!
Thank you!
Nothing short of brilliant Jennie.Always to be prized.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
Thank you!
How very beautiful,Jennie!
Thank you, Sue!
🙂
How precious. What a perfect gift. I love the description of family. ❤ ❤
Thank you, Darlene! ❤️
What a wonderful gift to treasure forever. And the sentiments were so perfect too. You must be very proud for it is you that has created that family out of nothing.
Thank you for your kind words!
To go to so much trouble to present you with such a gift to cherish speaks volumes about the character of the parents whose children attend your class, Jennie. I can only imagine how moving it must have felt, to open such a treasure.
Best wishes, Pete.
It was moving. Tears came out instead of words. The children understood. Thank you, Pete.
This is just so precious Jennie!
Thanks, Ritu. I think so, too! ❤️
❤❤❤
Thank you for sharing this.
You’re welcome, GP.
What wonderful spirits you have stirred among your families – you are educating the whole family, and they have adopted you!
Thank you so much! 🙂
Beautiful messages for a loving, dedicated teacher who gives so much of herself to her students! Hugs, Robin
PS. I always loved my students and their drawings meant more than “store bought” gifts. This was an amazing gift to keep forever, Jennie. 💗 🕊
It really is, Robin. Nothing better! 😀
Nothing better than heart ❤ to heart ❤ encounters which are those you bloom into blossoms while teaching the gentle, caring way you do, Jennie!
Happy holidays to you and yours! 🎄🕊✨
You say it so well, Robin. Thank you. And a very Merry Christmas to you! 🎄😀
An incredibly thoughtful gift to an incredibly dedicated and thoughtful teacher. Take a bow, Jennie for all the lives you change!
Thank you for your kind words, Mary Kay. 🙂
Wow! What an endearing and enduring gift for a marvelous teacher, Jenny!
Thank you, John. 🙂
Blessings to you Jennie!
And to you!
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
Jennie Fitzkee receives a beautiful end of term and Christmas gift from her class and their parents.. and how special it is too..#recommended
Thank you, Sally! 😊
If everyone felt this way, the world would be a better place.
It really would, Dan. Thank you.
Oh Jennie, this was so touching. What a feeling to know how much you’re appreciated and what you mean to those kids. Enjoy the fruits of your teachings. And Merry Christmas. 🙂 x
Thank you so much, Debby. Merry Christmas to you! 🎄
Thank you Jennie. 🙂
You are most welcome!
This is so beautiful, Jennie! Touching . . . Heartwarming . . . A tribute to a teacher who listens as well as speaks, who cries as well as laughs, who gives as well as receives. All we are is reflected back to us by those we encounter every day. I’m sure your heart is full to overflowing. Happy Holidays, dear friend ❤
My goodness, Tina. Thank you does not say enough. Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas to you, my friend. ❤️
This is so lovely and moving, Jennie. What a wonderful gift!
Thank you, Tonya!
When my parents divorced while I was at school – a rarity in those days – I was informed that I came from a ‘broken’ family. So I was very, very moved to see how you use that word family – because children like me – and my grandchildren – will no longer be singled out as somehow failing because our families fell outside the accepted norm.
Thank you for your story. Yes, it was a rarity. I still vividly remember my friend whose parents divorced. What a shock. She was the ‘only’ child from a broken family. Schools and teachers were pretty stiff and formal back then, so I doubt she ever felt like she had a family. Friends, yes. But not a family. And, thank you so much for your comments. If I can plant the seed of feeling accepted and part of a family, that is far more important than anything else.
So lovely, Jennie. No wonder it brought a tear to your eye. You and your children are surely blessed by your little family. ❤
Thank you, Diana! 🙂
Truth and beauty rolled together in this post, Jennie. With *that* kind of family all the struggles and bad turns of life are so much easier to bear. You had a marvelous gift. Hugs
Your kind words are truly appreciated. Thank you!
Absolutely precious, Jennie! You are an inspiration. Here’s to family, indeed. xo
What a beautiful gift! That’s the sort of thing that is beyond gold or silver.
I remember looking out at my first grade classroom, usually about a month after school started, and realizing we had gelled into a class. We had our own unique chemistry that grew as the year progressed.
Yes! That’s exactly how it is. And, for the children it feels so good.
A most wonderful gift for you, Jennie, a most deserving teacher.
Thank you, Robbie!
How spectacularly fantastical! I am so excited for you!
For some reason, it reminds me of a ‘second grade teacher’ my kids had, who gave her mailing address at the end of the year and encouraged the kids to send her letters in the mail and she would write them back.
Thank you, Ren. And, what a wonderful story of the 2nd grade teacher!
Lovely, Jennie. We use the same language at our school as well. I liked the poem and the graphics in the book.
Thanks so much, Cindy.
What a wonderful, thoughtful gift for you to treasure!
Indeed! It is a treasure. 🙂
How amazing! I hope to experience this kind of family, I substitute teach right now. I love it, the students that I repeatedly see I have developed the start of a connection. It’s so wonderful to have that
That’s wonderful to hear. You are on one great path to helping children. The rewards may not make you wealthy, but you will have a far richer and more rewarding career than most. Thank you for stopping by!
I believe so, I can’t wait to begin it! You’re welcome!
Love how the family has been described ! Great article !
Thank you!
Reblogging to Success Inspirers World 🙂
Thank you!
Wow. I got choked up reading that…made me think of some of the sweet and funny cards and letters my kids would compose for me; several of them still adorn my refrigerator. Thank you for sharing that.
My pleasure, Melanie. So glad you enjoyed it.
Oh That was beautiful.Indeed being part of a family is exactly the spirit I always kept working on,in my classes too.Everything else falls in place then.
Thank you, Sophie. And, you are so right!