Refreshing Students

A mere ten minutes have passed since my seventh hour class left me in my room at the end of the school day. It was as normal a day as the first day back after winter break can be. However, there was one special twist.

Today I told my students about our baby news. And whoa nelly! I was so shocked and so happy to hear and see their reaction. They were excited beyond my expectations - girls, boys, everyone all gave one collective gasp/scream. And then there were questions - oh so many, questions. How far along am I? Is it a boy or girl? When is the due date? Do we have names picked out? How long have I known and not told them? Are my parents excited? Do you care if people touch your stomach? Do I prefer a boy or girl? Nothing inappropriate and all just because they are curious and happy for us. So much fun. Wish I would have had a camera crew to film it.

It was the last frontier, the last group of people in my life to tell and I have to admit that I was a little bit nervous about their reaction. Sometimes 17-year-old students don't react the way you expect them to. You tell a joke that cracked up your colleagues and they just stare at you with blank faces. You tell them a sad and compelling story and they don't even flinch. Now that's not always the case. Sometimes they act exactly as you'd expect. They aren't robots, but they are teenagers who react based on their hormones/moods.

To soften the blow of my crazy news, I agreed to wait to tell classes about the baby until after Christmas. The reason? Well my teaching partner, Jeff, proposed over winter break and we decided to make announcements together upon our return to school. Following my announcement, Jeff made his news known. And then the questions for him started flowing. They were just as excited and happy for him as they were for me. And many of them made jokes about how they were overwhelmed and were having a hard time processing. We blew their minds and it was so cute.

I was in a rut with them before winter break. I wasn't excited to come back to class today. And for at least tonight, I will go home thinking warm thoughts about how funny and honest and unfiltered their reaction was to something going on with me.