Today was Hard -Kathy Risolvo

One of the hardest days I have ever had teaching. Do you ever have one of those days, you know, the kind where all you really want to do is be there for others and give them your best? One of those days where you question each step and hope that your decisions are the best for the ones that you have influence over? Today I needed to be prepared to teach students who watched the news last night but didn’t quite understand what was happening. I mean, let’s be honest, I am still processing what happened yesterday in the capitol. I prepared to talk to 14 different classes of 9, 10 and 11 year olds and every single group was filled with little minds with different experiences. I was careful with my words, knowing the potential weight that each word carried. I was careful to watch my own bias knowing that I carry influence. And at the end of my work day, I was so run down and tired that all I wanted to do was cry and eat ice cream. All my parts went to battle. My activist part thought, “you should have said more.” My peacemaker part thought, “you should have said less.” My inner child said, “someone tell me what to say.” My teacher leader part said, “you’ve got this.” And so on and so on. All the while I realize that we are sitting in the middle of this story. A story that will one day be part of the American history books but also part of my personal history. And today was hard.