November 1

Tonight I am grateful for the brilliant splashes of red and gold leaves against the grey of leafless branches.  I am grateful for mild weather and a quiet day.  I am grateful that I had time for a lunch break today.  I am grateful for my wonderful teaching assistant, who anticipates what the classroom needs and steps in seamlessly to cover in a crisis.  I am grateful to be the one who a child comes to in a crisis, the person they ask to see. I am grateful for my strong legs that can run and walk and reach and play.  I am grateful for quiet and comfortable Friday nights, for talking with my wonderful friend as our children play together peacefully in the next room.  I am grateful for princess dresses and fairy wings and the intense beauty of my son and daughter. I am grateful for my dog, her gaze and floppy ears and love that radiates out from her, and the way she puts her paw on my arm.  I am grateful for two-parent bedtimes and the fact that I don't have to fold all this laundry alone.  I am grateful that tomorrow is Saturday.