Growing up, we had a piano, but lived in a town with no piano teacher. My dad bought us some books and lately I’ve been thinking about one of the songs from that red John Thompson’s First Grade Book.
The simple song goes like this:
Traffic Go, Traffic Stop!
All must heed the Traffic Cop!
When I’m grown, I shall be
Just as fine a cop as he!
It goes through my head everyday as I do the duty I signed up for this month at school. My job is to move cars along as parents drop their students off in the morning. It is, perhaps, the most fun duty I have ever had.
I love waving the cars along, especially the ones that want to drop their children right at the front door, holding up the giant queue behind them. I really want a set of the red signal cones that they use at the airport to guide the planes taxiing in and out of the gates. I love urging the BMWs, and especially the Jaguar, to “Move along!” I feel so powerful. I feel sad for the kids who get out of cars that smell like cigarettes and wonder, did my clothes reek of smoke as a kid?
What I especially like are the snippets of conversation I hear as kids get dropped off.
“Love you!”
“Why are you mad at me?”
“Don’t forget…bus this afternoon.”
It gives just a little more insight into the lives of the kids at my school and a nice reminder of just how young they are.
booksandbassets 
I admire how positive you are with all this. At my school, parents are not supposed to drop their kids off, but of course, they still do. I love that you have found joy and extra connections to students in the midst of this.
I, too, admire your positivity – and the bits of overheard conversation, which make me smile with their every day details.
Ah yes…a feeling of power. Love he snippets of conversation you catch as doors open and close.
I work the parent pick up line after school. It’s fun to see how excited the kids are to see their parents. It’s sad sometimes, too when parents are late or have forgotten to pick up their kids. Great post. I think that songs going to be in my head for awhile now. 🙂
I like you staying positive. And Inlike the snippets into the kid’s lives. So interesting. Keep up the good work.