No Thank You?

When the day was over and we were dismissed earlier than usual, the people in my school hurriedly picked their things and headed to their day's plan: home, lunch dates, children affairs, and others. I remained in school for another hour because I have nowhere to go.

Later, I decided that going back home early and do my household chores would be better rather than feeling low and thinking of incompetence. I was expecting some grateful remarks from a couple of parents whose children were my greatest challenge this year but to no avail. It was an expectation and when it wasn't met, I felt bad. I retreated to my garden.

When I swept the fallen leaves in the garden, it reminded me of the children that passed through my care. As I gathered the leaves in a heap, I remembered building the skills and knowledge throughout the span of a school year. So that when the yard was cleaned, I appreciated my effort and I felt better.

Maybe the art of saying thank you is dying for some of the great demands of everyday make the parents appreciate less and less. Anyway, at the end of the day I am still glad that some of the children walked away that day saying, "Thank you for being my teacher!" with great, big hugs.