Constant Amazement

I don't often get the chance to drop the kids off at school. I am usually already at work, or it is my day off and I take it easy, letting the Joyfullness do the work. I confess, those mornings are somewhat peaceful and I know she enjoys taking The Boys to school to see the teachers.

But I don't hate the school, don't get me wrong. I rather enjoy the times I get to drop Myles and Sam off. With Myles, it is usually the car pool lane. We pace through the line, he gets his backpack on, the van door slides open, and my right-hand man jumps out into the real world.

Alright...I'll admit this transition doesn't always go so smoothly. But it is true that he is my right-hand man. In fact, Myles will not hold my other hand. He absolutely insists on holding ONLY my right hand. And that's O.K. with me.


Sam's drop off is a little bit slower paced. I get out, open the van door, kneel down, and he jumps on my back for a piggy-back ride into class. (Hey, I can still get away with this for a little while longer...he's only in preschool!)

Every school day since last September, Sam has been expected to follow the same routine: Open up the classroom door, take his folder out of his bag and place it in a collecting bin, then put his bag in his "cubbie". The he goes and picks his name out of a box and puts it next to his picture (his way of signing in).

And pretty much every time I have dropped Sam off, he has needed guidance on these tasks, remembering what to do next.

So, the most recent time I dropped him off, all the teachers were busy with other children, and I knew the best thing to do would be to help Sam with the morning routine, to start his day.

And so, once again, I guided him to pull out his folder and put it in the box, then put his bag in his cubbie. Then it was off to "sign-in".

"Sam, pull your name out and put it next to your picture". Sam just stood there smiling. "Come on, Sam. You can do it. Is this your name?" I said, as I pulled out some random child's name.

"Alisha" he said.

And he was right.

Hmm...I wonder if he knows any of the other children's names? Or was that just luck? I pulled out another one:

"Conner" he said.

Another one:

"Leslie" he said.

And again...and again...and again, until Sam had looked at every child's name and said it out loud, showing me that he knew all the children in his class, and what their names looked like.

And the last name: "Sam, who's name is this, I said?"

"Sam", he said. And he put his name next to his picture. (RAOC)

Now, the Joyfullness says this has actually been going on for quite sometime, but as I said at the beginning, I don't often get to take The Boys to school.

I read somewhere that most of us go through life half-asleep. But there are a few of us who are always wide awake, fully aware of every detail.

And they are in constant amazement.

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