This post is kind of just for me

As you well know, I've been having a terrible time with my kids lately. They don't listen to me, they're awfully disrespectful, and they cry when I try to discipline them. I'm basically winging it 98% of the day and just praying I'm not screaming my head off when people walk by my classroom. It's been rough.

Today, however, was a little miracle. The kids weren't angels by any means, but they kind of listened. They knew they had upset me a lot yesterday (after my blog post, I hid in the library and cried for an hour about my inability to impart wisdom in any form), and they seemed like they were actually trying to make me feel better. They listened to me sometimes, and they told each other to stop speaking Korean so I wouldn't have to yell. That could in part be because I made two kids cry today... baby steps.

Anyway, so the reason I'm posting is because there was a moment today that was so sweet I'm not sure I can even capture it. After we watched Mr. M of the Letter People, I closed out the window and my kids saw the background of my desktop.

That's the picture I had on my old computer too, and my other kids always asked if that was my family (probably because all white people look the same). When my new kids saw the picture, though, they all got quiet and studied it, then one precious little girl raised her hand. When I called on her, she said in her broken English, "Miss Nikki, those friends?" I told her they are my friends in Ohio. She looked like she was thinking for a minute before she smiled and said, "Look like good friends. Happy."

Sometimes I guess it takes a three-year-old to get me to stop complaining about every little thing and remember the many, many blessings I have.