Matching Tracksuits

Day: June 1, 2014

Dzień Dziecka

Sunday 1 June 2014

We were in the backyard, blowing bubbles, chasing bubbles, popping bubbles — just a bit of outside time between our return from Mass and the Boy’s nap time.

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Suddenly, Mama appeared.

“I’ve got surprises for you two!” she said, in Polish of course. “Today is Dzień Dziecka.”

It sounds so much more natural to me in Polish: Children’s Day. Nah. Dzień Dziecka. In the States, we only have Father’s Day and Mother’s Day; Poland adds Children’s Day, Grandparents’ Day, Siblings’ Day, Uncles’ Day, Aunts’ Day, Cousins’ Day, Second Cousins’ Day, Cousins’ Twice Removed Day. Well, perhaps not to that degree, but they don’t stop at just two family days.

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One could argue that every day is Children’s Day, especially in big families. Still, it’s nice to have an excuse to give kids a little something to make them smile, like new books or a new train for a growing Thomas collection.

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Measuring Success

Sunday 1 June 2014

They come in as strangers, and by now, their reactions and behavior are almost predictable. I have only a few more days with these students who’ve undergone so many transformation in less than a year, and then soon, they’ll be strangers again. One or two will send an occasional email, that’s certain; I’ll see one or two here or there every how and then. Some have younger siblings, so I’ll see them at awards nights in the future or in the car line if their sibling is the first dropped off. The rest, though, disappear for all intents and purposes, as I repeat the process next year, learning new names, new faces, new habits.

How do I know if it’s been a successful year, though? What metric allows me to make this determination? Is a letter from a student enough? Are test scores enough? (Our principal informed us that our End of Course exams for high school credit courses were the best “in a long time.” Is that a good metric?)