More Answers...The Final Edition

The rest of the questions from the Peeps mostly address regrets and writing my own happy ending.

For one thing, as I have said earlier, I try to learn from my flub-ups and move on. Don't dwell on the bad stuff. Guilt/sadness/anger/bitterness really eat up a person on the inside.

One time I did something REALLY stupid. REALLY. I was so ashamed/embarrassed/mortified/sorry/you get the picture. A good friend from church said to me, "Beachy Mimi, Jesus already died on the cross for this. You are forgiven. When you give God's grace out to other people, keep a little for yourself."

That was a life changing time for me. Through much research and Bible study, I learned about forgiveness for myself and for other people. I felt cleansed.

From that time on I have totally changed my attitude toward life. I am much more laid-back, easy-going, relaxed and roll with the day kind of person. Where I used to stress obsessively about little hiccups in my life...they are just temporary. Nothing stays the same.

My attitude about God changed as well. I was raised in a church that dwelt on punishment and God's anger. That colored my outlook on all of life. Until the "incident". I got a crash course on GRACE and exactly what that means. God also revealed His sense of humor to me and my outlook turned positive with joy and laughter.

I just hope I pass that on to other people I come in contact with. Incorrect sentence, but you get my drift.

Teaching questions?

Well, I mostly taught first grade. Much of what I taught then is taught in Kindergarten now.

Kids are kids everywhere. They are hysterical in their thought patterns and story telling.

Oh, Peeps. The stories they told me about their families. Priceless.

The world is pretty small to a little kid. We used to have 30 plus kids to a classroom, which made it FULL. When my class would see me at the grocery store they would say, "Mrs. Beachy Mimi! You go to the grocery store, too?"

They thought I lived in my little storage closet. It was a walk-in closet and every time I would go in, there would be a little cluster of kids just outside the door to see if I was coming back.

I was introducing spelling words one time. The spelling list was new words that were going to be in the story for the week. It was a small school, and I think they got their textbooks from NEW YORK CITY. Some of the stories were way outside the language experience of the children and they were totally clueless about anything 20 miles out-of-town.

This particular story was about Scotland (three hands went up..."I've been there Mrs. Beachy Mimi. Is that over by Houston?") and kilts. When I introduced "kilt", one of the boys excitedly raised his hand and said, "Mrs. Beachy Mimi! My uncle "kilt" a man and he is in the pen (as in
jail).
Alrighty then. No recovery from that.

One year I had 20 boys. I love boys. I love girls. But 20 of one or the other in a class of 25 is just too much. I COULD NOT EVEN TURN MY BACK TO WRITE ON THE BOARD. They were trying to cut their hair, someone else's hair, pick, gouge, fall out of chairs...the list is endless.

It took several weeks just to get them sitting with their bottom in their own chair.

A lot of children lose teeth in the first grade and my classes were never an exception. I made a large tooth and the toothless person got to sign and date the tooth and then got a certificate to take home to Mom.

One little girl DUG HER TOOTH OUT WITH A PENCIL, SITTING UNDER HER DESK so she could get a certificate. I was mortified. The tooth was loose, but she walks up to me with a big smile, the tooth in her hand and blood all over everything. I got her cleaned up and fifteen minutes later she is BACK UNDER THE DESK GOING AT ANOTHER TOOTH. We had to have a L O N G talk. Only one tooth per day!!

I read The Boxcar Children to all my classes. Every single class loved it and I loved having that informal read and chat time. What imaginations! Circle time was a highlight of every day.

We made some great stuff. Cookbooks written by them were a favorite. We had plays, dress-ups, our own parades and EVERYONE learned to read.

Everyone got hugs and love everyday from Mrs. Beachy Mimi. I don't even know if that would be allowed now. All I know is, they blossomed...I got more out of them than if I had been a mean old bag. AND we got to lunch on time. A big deal back in the day.

I have been drenched in throw-up, blood, snot, drool and other body fluids I'm not ready to think about.

I took my shoes off one afternoon, looked up and EVERYONE had their shoes off. Too funny.

Some of my students are now teachers themselves. Time passes so quickly.

As most of you are getting your little ones ready to start another year, just remember...

MRS. BEACHY MIMI IS RETIRED!!!