My birthday recently passed by. Another trip around the sun.
Amongst the lovely gifts that I received, Elysha arranged for me to spend time in a single engine plane over the city of Hartford. Over the past two years, aviation has become an interest of mine, and though I have no desire to ever fly a plane solo or seek my pilot’s license, I’ll have the chance to take the controls of the plane while in the air and fly a plane for the first time in my life.
I can’t wait.
I also received gifts from unexpected sources.
Though I tell my students that all I ever want for my birthday is for them to work hard and be kind, some of my kids still bring me entirely unnecessary gifts. Homemade cards are my favorite, but these three gifts also caught my eye this year:
From a student who knew I was hunting down hard-to-find cream cheese for my cream cheese loving children, I received a box of Philadelphia’s finest.
The cream cheese shortage, by the way, has less to do with supply chain problems as you might think. In October, a cyberattack against the nation’s largest cheese manufacturer contributed to a shortage of cream cheese across the United States. The attack targeted plants and distribution centers, and the temporary shutdowns were enough to create an ongoing scarcity of cream cheese.
From a student who heard me say that an enormous pile of $100 bills would also make a great gift, she walked into the classroom and threw fake $100 bills at me.
Well played.
Later in the day, I found a carton of apple juice from the school breakfast on my desk with a note that read:
“You know how the traditional gift for a teacher is an apple? I didn’t have one!”
I am blessed with very clever students.
Best of all, they work hard and treat one another with kindness most of the time.
