"Tomorrow Will Be Better"

One of my absolute favorite children's authors is Kevin Henkes.  I love his stories, I love his use of excellent vocabulary, I love the characters he creates and the depth they have.  My all-time favorite Henkes book is Chrysanthemum.  I grew up loving it, not even knowing that there were other Henkes gems out there, too.

But today, I read Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse to my class.

It had been a day.  Ok, it has been a week!

Never before have I been so utterly overwhelmed by behavior--from students and parents alike.  I spent the majority of yesterday in the office trying to calm down a very unhappy mother of a child who received a bloody nose from a classmate on Monday.  Today was not much better.  By lunch time, I looked at my sweet coworker and said, "Can we both just call in sick tomorrow?  Let's just call in, and then spend the day at the beach!"

I've had it.  Miss Bethany needs a day off!  (Not that I would ever actually do that...it's just the first time that such an irresponsible act has even sounded appealing!)

By our afternoon reading time, I needed a good story as much as my class.  I went to my bookshelf and pulled down Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse.  I knew it was what my class needed today: the story of a student who makes a big mistake, and on top of learning an important lesson about following directions and trusting her teacher's judgement, realizes that even when she makes mistakes, her parents and teacher will still love and support her.  One of my favorite lines in any children's book is in this story:

Today was a difficult day.  Tomorrow will be better.

After a day like we had had today, my students didn't need another lecture.  But the subtle assurance that everything was going to be ok soothed my heart, and I hoped they felt it, too.