Confiscated lego. Paper hearts. Lineup drama. Finger spaces between words.
The land of primary. I miss it.
I miss the affected sneers and huge put on grumpy faces.
I miss the toothless smiles. Rosy cheeks. Shy grins
I miss sticky out pony tails and falling out braids.
I miss the giggles. The shushing. The tattling and the denial.
The wide eyes and the gasps at the smallest of things which often turn out to be the biggest of things.
Unabashed asking.
“Are you married?” “Who’s your husband?” “How much money do you have?”
I miss the repeating. The asking and telling again and again and again.
I miss sparkle dresses. Hairbands. Droopy tights. Polka dots.
I miss yellow rain jackets. Broken umbrellas. Muddy layers.
I miss new reader pride. Pages that take forever. Not breathing through one long stretched out sentence.
I miss little hands reaching for mine. Spontaneous singing. Silly little poems.
I miss stompy feet that seek out puddles. Dancing. Prancing. Spinning in circles.
I miss messy play. Toppled towers. Imagined lands. Race car lanes.
I miss the ease of imagination. The willingness to believe. The joy.
Paint splotches. Standing on chairs. Untied shoelaces.
I miss the love. The mush. The gush.
I am participating in the Slice of Life challenge to write and publish a post every day in March.
Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers. I thank them for the community they provide. Read more slices here.
There's a Book for That 
I love this. I taught second grade for one year before moving to 6th. And I still miss it sometimes! 16 years later!
Little ones have a special way into our hearts.
Even though I coach K-6, primary land is where my heart is. You capture the joy of the little kids so sweetly in this poem!
Thank you! So in your role, you must still be able to spend time in primary classrooms yes?
Yes! Sometimes, when I’m feeling stressed or if most of my coaching cycles are taking place in intermediate grade, I find myself heading to a primary classroom just to get some “happy time.” I hope you can get some, soon, too!
Missing them means the love was strong.
Very strong!
I recently said to someone, ” whenever I’m having a rough day, I head to kindergarten.” Guaranteed fun and love. You captured many of the qualities that I also love about the little ones!
I do this too! Once a week on one of my preps, I go visit the K class. Often they sing when I get there. How I love sitting in!
It’s your eye for those little, specific details that makes this piece so effective and paints a picture of a primary student. I agree- the love was strong. ❤
So very strong, you are right!
There’s much to love within a primary class. Your details put me right there. And the funny part is all of this might be experienced within one day. 🙂
Exactly! Multiple times!
You’ve captured the land of primary so beautifully! And I agree with several others, the details you have chosen are exquisite. I wonder if you could write a similar post about what you are coming to love about the older ones. I’ll bet you are finding they have their own crazy wonderfulness too!
I really am. I go back and forth daily on what I love more. I think both!
I taught preschool for a year and second grade for another, so I know how this feels:”I miss the love. The mush. The gush.” But, I’ve discovered that teaching 6th. grade as I have for 17years, is not that different underneath all the “coolness” of the age. Somehow, it’s sweeter because of this. Beautifully written post, Carrie.
You are very wise Tara. I realized recently that these students I now teach are still so young! And wonderful in many ways.
I echo Tara. As a coach I did receive more “mush” from the little ones, but the older ones stopped me in the hall to show me a piece of writing or a new book they were reading. As for the middle schoolers, some ‘mush’ but mostly very privately. I hear you, though. You were with those little ones a long time, and the stories you shared certainly made me smile a lot.
All children share lovely aspects about themselves and it is a joy to witness it all!
I’ve only taught 6-12, so I wonder sometimes what it would be like to work with little ones. They sure are cute, and there’s an appeal to having one class of students to work with all year, but I’ve always been so intimidated by the idea of teaching all subjects, plus some of the life and social skills they haven’t learned yet. When my daughter would come home from kindergarten telling me what Mr. B. said that day, I’d often think ‘Wow, I wouldn’t have thought to teach that, but I’m so glad he did!”
Some primary teachers are truly incredible. Their kid instincts are bang on.
You have completely captured primary land – the land I live in every day! Droopy tights is why I don’t send my daughter to school in tights! If I’m having a bad morning, its completely washed away once my first graders come into the classroom – all talking to me at once! Great post.
There is no time to even think once the kids are in the room. That’s part of the reason I loved it!
I know that feeling – just last week I had a story time that I thought went terribly, and was feeling pretty bummed, but when I tried to leave the room afterwards I was surrounded by little bodies hugging my legs crying “don’t go! We love you!” It’s that kind of crazy, zany, whirlwind that makes working with little ones both maddening and incredible, and often both simultaneously. 🙂
So very true!
So much love in this slice. I like all the details you have collected. It sounds like a poetic picture book to be illustrated and published.
Thank you Terje. This piece has called at me ever since I wrote it.