puppy love

i often wonder how my kids will turn out. no, not biological kids. none of those in my life yet. there's a few more steps in the path between me and munchkins.

how my students will turn out. my first year teaching i was sure that i was going to stay around alachua long enough to see my first class graduate from high school. different plans were clearly in store for me. i'd even gone so far as to plan to take out an ad in the santa fe high school yearbook for their senior year. maybe i'll still do that. let's see...they'd be in eighth grade now. i think. four more years!

it's funny seeing the kids in my class interact with one another and wonder who will still be friends beyond this year. which friendships will fail, as they often do. which ones will flourish or begin anew, much to the surprise of those around them now. i think about the friends i ran around with in middle school, in high school, in college. they couldn't be more different. as kids change, so do their friends. some of my best friends in childhood were from the neighborhood or scouts. i couldn't tell you the names of many friends from elementary school, excepting the few that wound up at my high school.

what train of thought led me to this wondering state? last night at the gym, two of the kids on the climbing team were goofing off with one another. he clearly had a crush on her; she was completely oblivious to his flirting, likening it to normal friendship. that body language gave him away. his goofy grin when he looked at her; her annoyed sighs when he wouldn't stop bothering her. they'll probably remain friends if they keep climbing. something more, who knows. on the playground today, i saw two of my kids from last year. neighbors and friends, they'd make a cute couple.

in high school, that is. now, that's just too weird to contemplate.