Thank you, Mary Kathryn, for this poignant window into the world of teaching.
We Are Responsible For Children
We are responsible for children who put chocolate fingers everywhere, who like to be tickled, who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants, who sneak Popsicles before supper, who erase holes in Math workbooks, who can never find their shoes.
We are responsible for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can’t bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers, who are born in places we wouldn’t be caught dead, who never got to the circus, who live in an x-rated world.
We are responsible for children who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish, who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money, who cover themselves with band aids and sing off key, who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink, who slurp their soup.
We are responsible for those who never get dessert, who have no safe blanket to drag behind them, who watch their parents watch them die, who can’t find any bread to steal, who don’t have any rooms to clean up, whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser, whose monsters are real.
We are responsible for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday, who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food, who like ghost stories, who shove dirty clothes under the bed, and never rinse out the tub, who get visits from the tooth fairy, who don’t like to be kissed in front of the carpool, who squirm in church and scream in the phone, whose smiles can make us cry.
We are responsible for those whose nightmares come in the daytime, who will eat anything, who have never seen a dentist, who aren’t spoiled by anybody, who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep, who live and move, but have no being.
We are responsible for children who want to be carried and for those who must, for those we never give up on and for those who don’t get a second chance, for those we smother…. And for those who will grab the hand of anyone kind enough to offer it.
– Ina Hughes
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2 comments:
I loved reading this, and I can't wait to be responsible for each and every one of those children. I feel like I was born to do this, and I am very excited about the next few years, and the many years that come after that in the classroom!!!
I have read this many times before and each and every time it makes me cry. Having my own children brings this so close to home and I do feel that each and everyone of us is responsible for every child. My husband and I have in the past wanted to adopt but have never been able to make it happen. We now consider fostering after our own leave for college. Knowing what some children face in this world is heart breaking and if we know that we can offer them more we will. There are so many ways to reach out to underprivledged children and I encourage everyone to look for them; myself included. Thank you for posting this to us, it reminds me of what is really important.
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