My Second Graders

The School

I teach religious education or CCD to second graders at our church. Sundays are one of my favorite days of the week because I get to spend an hour and 15 minutes with the most amazing kids on the planet! Every Sunday is different and I never know what will happen. 


Somedays, they are gross because let's face it, kids are kinda gross. They don't mean to be, stuff just happens. One week, a little girl named Victoria came in with her nose gushing blood. I was not expecting this! Blood on the floor, blood all over her, it was a lot of blood.  Another week, little Sofia sneezed causing more snot than I have ever seen in my life shoot from her nose. Again, a little gross.



Blessed Sacrament,
 our Church

Other days they say something completely unexpected. Like when Isabel told a story about a woman she saw with "no neck" at the fair. I'm still not sure what she meant by this or how we got on this topic, but she was completely serious and you could have heard a pin drop in the room. All of the kids were captivated imagining the woman with "no neck." I on the other hand was holding in my laughter. The stories they have to tell!

Everyday they amaze me. They have their first confession in December, so we have been discussing the Ten Commandments, sin, and temptation. They all have the Ten Commandments memorized, and can easily distinguish between sin and temptation.  Not to mention, for many of them english is their second language, with most being fluent in several languages. These kids are between the ages of 6 and 8, but most days I feel like they are 45.

And of course, they make me laugh everyday. Last week, a little boy named Tao told me he had $1500. Of course, I reacted and said "wow, good for you Tao!" Then every other boy at the table tried to one up Tao until we reached an outrageously large sum of money for a 7 year old (something like $5000). In the end, they all confessed the amount of money they really had, which was around $10, with little Tao rounding out the group with $5 to his name.  Another time, I accidentally said the word "war" when discussing sin and all hell broke loose - they each shaped their fingers into guns, began play shooting one another, making bazooka noises, canon noises, and acted like they were slitting each other's throats. Utter chaos all because I said one word! Another week I said "party" when discussing a Jesus story and again chaos ensued - every child started dancing, laughing, screaming, jumping up and down, and saying "PARTY TIME!"  I just never know what will set them off and again I can barely keep my laughter at bay.

I have only known my second graders for a little over a month and they have already given me so much joy.  I can't wait to see what happens over the next 6 months!