silver lining

it seemed like nothing went right today. late to work, early to leave, and a comedy of errors in between.

theodore geisel's birthday is on sunday. who is theodore geisel, you ask? why, dr. seuss, of course! today, we celebrated his contributions to american children. included were plans for a read-in at the end of the day. the kids brought in pillows, beach towels, a stuffed animal, and lots of books. some forgot, some didn't care. one little niña told me yesterday that she didn't have a stuffed animal. ¿qué triste, verdad?

flashback two years ago. an end of the year gift from a less-privileged girl was a well-loved teddy bear. it was small, dirty, and came from the heart. it's been one of the few gifts that i've kept. ok, that's not true. one of the few gifts that has not been spendable or perishable that i've kept.

return to now. when she told me she didn't have any stuffed animals, i immediately thought of that well-loved oso pequeño. this morning, i called her over and gave it to her. big smile. she read with it this afternoon. at the end of the day, she came back over to me to give it back. i asked her if she wanted to keep it. a big smile and brown eyes that said, "can i really?"

¡por supuesto!