Teach Peace

Some of my grandsons have just started kindergarten and some are back in school again.

I have friends that are teachers who are starting school as well after our glorious summer.

And what a HUGE responsibility it is.

I was also a teacher at one time.

When I first moved Out West to Calgary I taught at Calgary Academy, a school for children with learning challenges. I taught a class of grade four boys and drama and art to the whole school. I am still friends with many of the teachers and staff I met there and the school just recently celebrated their 40th anniversary.

I was my children’s first teacher.

The children and I had many story times together. We went for walks to the library and we owned many books. We went to the “Children’s Festival”, me and my gang of “four under four” (at one point) .

I erected a huge banner in our basement with the help of Terry and this became a place to draw and dream.

My daughter, Emily, reminded me the other day of her having fond memories of the ‘big boys’ being in school and “Mama” teaching them their cursive writing and our precious ‘alone’ time together.

We sang. We put on plays with costumes from the massive costume trunk that Daddy built and painted bright yellow and red.

We went to church together and had pancakes every weekend. We danced.

There were lessons in kindness and lessons in forgiveness. We learned about the power of faith and the love of God.

There were were tears and there were hugs. There was SO much laughter and so many silly jokes.

And before I knew it…. all four of my children were in school full time.

I had more free time to pursue theatre and the day flew by until it was time to get home for the soon-to-be noisy and excited arrival home of the children.

The teachable moments continued until the children were children no longer and soon off to University for more learning.

I will never forget standing on our front lawn and waving good-bye as my boys drove off for their big adventure even farther west.

And now we get updates about our grandsons and their new learning skills; their fluent french, their musical , baking, acting, sports, and artistic skills to name a few. And the circle begins again.

I am thinking that it would be so much more difficult to be a teacher in today’s world.

Covid locking the schools and knocking the wind out of the sails of lonely teens and exhausted , online teachers.

Angry parents whose children can do no wrong and don’t you dare try to hug a child. And I just read about one teacher that upset some little ones by claiming that there was no such thing as ‘a girl’ or ‘a boy’ .

The cancel culture. The ‘woke’ culture. Scary politics in a scary world. (In and out of the school setting.)

So I have great respect for teachers. So for my relatives and friends like Albert and Nancy and Lindsay and Jazz and Bev …..and so many more that I met over the years ….thank-you!

Thank you all.

And may we all teach peace in our own homes and in our communities.