finding perfection in the imperfect.

I'm sitting on my perfect back porch in the perfect evening sunlight in the perfect Colorado autumn weather with my (sometimes...okay, rarely) perfect pooch sitting by my side. In this moment, my life is, well....perfect.

There is a lot that is not perfect about my job, but since my day has been so wonderful and the sun is shining so beautifully right now, I'm going to take this opportunity to document the good things about my job and save them for a day when things are not looking quite so bright.

I walk in the door of my classroom every day to be greeted by bunches of beautiful (sometimes messy), smiling faces. I enter to squeals and shouts of "Miss Kelsey!!!!" and "I missed you!" and "look at my new pink cowboy boots...do you love them!?" Every day I am welcomed as if I were returning from a year long absence, not one of only a few hours.

I get to spend every day teaching these wonderful children things about the world. Yes, I get to teach them things like how to write their names and the seven days of the week and that there are twelve months every year. But I also get to teach them to treat their friends with kindness and that smiling gets you much further than whining and that if you share your lion toy with someone today, then they will surely share their elephant with you tomorrow. I get to see their little minds process the world around them and begin to understand things...that the leaves turn yellow in the autumn and that flowers come up in the spring. To understand that their mothers' name is not actually "mommy" but that's what we call them because they are our mothers. To understand that they are responsible for their own actions. And most of all, I get to see them come to realize that they are special, unique, and very loved.

Today I spent the afternoon in the beautiful Colorado sunshine while two little ones "painted" my hair and "decorated" it for me. I watched another one conquer his fear of the big slide and then proceed to go down it repeatedly for an hour. I talked with a child about his mommy and daddy and his sister and heard all the details of his soccer team and his favorite movies.

I have been given the honor of becoming a part of each child's life.

There is much that is wrong with the place that I work. And I will continue to search for new jobs. But until I find one, I can return here - to this place and this feeling - and know that I will survive. I will survive because of the smiling faces that will greet me tomorrow with every bit as much joy and excitement (and just as many hugs) as they did today and the day before that.

And that joy is enough to get me through even the longest of days.