When do you go to Sleep?

It has been almost a week since I last posted. Time really flies when you are having fun. My latest fun started last Wednesday when I went by a local store and purchased a bracelet. This is a bracelet like none I have ever had before, it spoke to me. No, not literally but you know what I mean. It is the point when you are looking at something and you say, uhmmmm, that makes a statement. In this case the statement was a quote by E.E. Cummings, "It takes a lot of courage to grow up to become who you really are." As I wore the bracelet the next couple of days, I keep thinking about the quote and how true it was. How many times are children struggling with things that we as adults don't even have a clue about. I remember a story from a dear friend of mine who still teaches in a suburban elementary school in Metro Georgia. He told me that before test days, in his classroom, he asks his students what time they go to bed at night as a reminder that they need to go to be early and get plenty of sleep. This particular day when he asked the question one student replied, "I go to sleep at 6 o'clock." Thinking that the student misunderstood him, he asked the question again, and again she replied, "6 o'clock." He looked at her small frame and big eyes and asked her why. Her reply was one that I will never forget. She replied to him, "My mom says if I go to sleep early, then it won't hurt so bad when I am hungry." Hummmmm. That could be the end of the story but this particular teacher learned a great lesson that day. He told me that from then on he never let the snack bucket in his classroom get empty and he was a lot more emphatic to his students and their needs. There are many more of these stories and stories of teachers who come to the rescue. Yes, I know all teachers aren't in the profession for helping children but I can tell you there are many more who are than who aren't.