2 kids have the ability to throw our entire room in to chaos.
We spend most of our day debating whether it's better to send them out of the room or let them be disruptive. Sending them away gives us the ability to tend to the other 26 kids in our room. Keeping them allows us to form relationships with them...help them walk through their issues, sending them the message that we believe in you and have the ability to help you.
Today they were both on their meds and alas, there are normal second graders inside of their normally violent and rageful bodies. They were not perfect, but they were manageable. I think I told them both how proud I was of them at least 10 times.
They seemed to be tired of hearing it by the end of the day but I just couldn't stop saying it.
What I wanted to do was pick them up and spin them around and say, "I will sleep better tonight because I didn't have to send you out the room today."
I don't know that I'll ever be able to explain how great it feels to look at them and know they're listening...to smile at them and get a smile in return...to feel like maybe someday they will look back and realize that I greeted them every morning and gave them a high five every afternoon and spent most of my waking hours thinking about how to reach them because I cared.