Angel in the Classroom....and a small obsession

Each day our little ones come to us with smiles, hugs, burdens, and sometimes hurting hearts and hidden bruises. For many, we can tell right away what kind of morning they are having. Some are so excited to just be there. Some seem to be a little sleepy or grumpy. Some are hiding behind a facade.

To be honest, we may not always know what burdens each one of our kiddos carry with them to school. We often think that only our kiddos who are economically disadvantaged are the ones with broken homes and problems. Sadly, child abuse can touch any child or family...some families are just better at hiding it.

This may not be an appropriate topic for a blog post but it is too near and dear to my heart to not say anything or share my poem.

I never want to make excuses for a child's behavior but many times knowing what might be going on in their lives helps us to better understand them. Remember, our kiddos are either extending love or calling out for love. We might be the only one to really stop and listen to what their behavior is telling us.

I have taught kiddos that it was very obvious the abuse that was happening and some that left me shocked when I found out. I guess I think we just need to love each kiddo as if we are the only one who does.....and for some kiddos this is easy. Others, we will have a hard time doing so. I know God put each child in your life and my life for a reason.

You may not realize that each smile you give a child erases a frown someone else gave them. Each hug you give might erase the hands that caused bruises and hurt. Each I love you that you tell them might erase hurtful and ugly words. YOU are either seeing that child as a blessing to your life or a burden. Conscious Discipline shares how what children hear NOW becomes the inner speech for the rest of their lives.

I believe we all have the chance to be a guardian angel here on Earth and that through us, we can share of God's love. This is one of the very first poems I wrote because one of my teachers was an angel in the classroom to me.

You already are touching hearts in a way you may never fully understand.

Now, my obsession.....

I did not realize how bad it was until I pulled out my BOX of Easter eggs!

Aren't some of those the cutest Easter eggs ever?!!!???? The butterflies and flowers aren't eggs but are cute containers!

The fish ones I am going to use at the beginning of next year for all of the Lips the Fish activities we do. =)

The frogs and ladybugs are still waiting for me to have a brain pop on how to use them.

Most of the eggs came from Big Lots....we won't discuss how many I bought of each.

These eggs are not even including the small, regular or jumbo sized eggs I also have.

Since I have a small egg obsession, here is an egg *freebie*! =)

Now for a craft. We are going to have some sort of writing activity to go with these. The pictures do not capture how cute and amazing the effects look in person.

We traced an egg on tag. The kiddos then decorated their egg with squiggle lines or polka dots. They then painted the egg with corn syrup that I had dyed different colors with food coloring. They had green, yellow, blue, purple, and pink (a very, very light red). We painted these on Friday and they were dry by Monday. A few eggs that had a thick coat of corn syrup took until Tuesday to dry.

They are really cool looking in person. They are very shiny and swirly looking. =)

My kiddos are bonkers for them. They keep going by and stroking their egg! =)

I hope this post touches your heart and leaves you with something to bring to the classroom tomorrow.

Thank you for blessing me in so many ways! =)