I Think You Are Wonderful

So, it is lunch time here and it is just me, my candy, and a diet coke.  Healthy.

I normally don't blog during the school day because there just isn't time to form a coherent sentence.  But, today, this is my therapy.  

Last night was filled with turmoil as we tried to explain how important truth and homework is.....ever tried to rationalize life with a ten year old bi-polar child with the beginnings of a hormonal spiral that just may send her parents over the deep end?  You'll understand when I tell you that I only slept 3 hours last night, and it wasn't because I was worried about the state of our country after the election yesterday.

Today, I got to work in just the nick of time when I received a text from my husband saying that during the night his mom had been taken to the hospital <from the nursing home> and was being moved to the ICU due to double pneumonia.  With anyone, that is not good.....but my mother-in-law, whom I love dearly suffers from an encyclopedia of auto-immune disorders and diseases, the worst of which is auto-immune hepatitis which has caused problems with her liver and ovarian cancer.  We are not sure what stage the cancer is at this time because she is not strong enough for a biopsy, let alone chemotherapy or radiation.

So, my already bad mood quickly turned to sadness.  I love my mother-in-law.  She is one of the wisest women I know.  When my husband and I have a disagreement or I am not sure which way to turn with my kids, I seek her out for counsel....something I thought I'd never do after watching my mother and my dad's mother interact with each other.

As my kids started coming into the room I couldn't help wonder what I was going to do.  My thoughts and prayers have been on my mother-in-law all day.  When you are barely keeping the worry lines out of your face and out of your voice, how do you set it aside and go from there?  My students noticed that I was not a happy camper, so they were pretty somber, too.  One of my students asked, "Can we listen to that song we sang yesterday?".  Wonderful idea, so we did.

The song, "I Think You Are Wonderful" by my friend Debbie Clement is a great pick me up song. And, a great song to use for shared reading.  Except this morning, it didn't rejuvenate me quite like it did yesterday.  But, the lyrics go like this:

I think you're wonderful,
I think you're marvelous,
I think you're beautiful and magical
And filled with curiosity....and dreams.

Debbie, forgive me for the copyright infringement....the story is only as good as the lyrics.

My kids were singing along when one of my kids changed the lyrics, I guess in response to my doom and gloom demeanor.  They began singing:

Mrs. Ayers you're wonderful,
Mrs. Ayers you're marvelous,
I think you're beautiful and magical
And filled with curiosity.....and dreams.

The whole time they were singing this, I was thinking about my poor mother-in-law in the ICU with all of the tubes, hoses, and alarms.

I honestly thought I was going to loose it!  The words themselves were beautiful....but the thoughts behind them at this point were HONESTLY magical.  So, I sort of tweaked my plans to help me through the morning.....sort of.....musical therapy and art therapy as I sat quietly with them surrounding me and made this:

I wish I had been able to take pictures of their own responses to the song...I ran out of time because I am going to take a day off tomorrow.  But, Debbie, my friend......know that your song impacted my whole class and made my heart full today.

The song came on a CD inside her book.  I highly recommend that you purchase it.  I know that it is recommended for Pre-K or Kindergarten graduation, but it is flexible apparently!  If you want to take a look at the book and its information, just click below on the picture.

Just to let you know, my husband and I went to the hospital right after work and were able to go into the ICU to see my mother-in-law.  She is weak, her breathing is labored, but she was able to tell us that she loved us.

She's wonderful,

She's marvelous,

She's beautiful and magical

And once was filled with curiosity....and dreams.

**Excuse typos and bad grammar.  It has been a long, hard day.