comfort

Yesterday, before I found out that my school-issued computer had been stolen, and before one student pushed another by the neck at recess, and before I found out that Liana had asked Victor for money (which he'd given at lunch) to help her parents out... one of my students did just about the cutest thing.

In the library area, I have a large rug where we sit for mini-lessons and read-alouds. There are some benches where students can sit, and on this day, there were too many students trying to sit on the benches.

Nomar is a student I can count on to help me - always pleasant and helpful. At that moment, I needed to just get going with the reading, so I asked Nomar if he would mind not sitting on the bench today.

Nomar smiled, got up, and came over to my reading chair.

"Sure, I'll just sit here then. Is that ok?" He asked, completely genuine and smiling the biggest smile. Weighing a full 46lbs., Nomar sat on the arm of my chair, put his arm around my shoulder as best he could, and leaned his curly head of hair onto my shoulder.

"Can I really stay?" He asked. At that moment, he slipped into the chair a bit. We all laughed.

"Alright, Nomar. You can sit here if you want," I said. I scooted over as best I could, and surprisingly we both fit.

As I read the book to the class, Nomar sat next to me in the little green arm chair. I couldn't help smiling as he leaned against my shoulder -- his curly head of hair resting there until I finished reading.