See I Told You!

     It's 8:30am and the Kindergartners are all sloshing down strawberry yogurt and rice crispy cereal. "Okay, throw out all trash, boys and girls," I instructed as I stood ready to leave. "Line up, one two..." EYES ON YOU!! they all finished.
    "Now remember, boys and girls, marshmallow toes!" I guided the five-year-old squirts up the stairwell, out of the cafeteria. They teetered along, trying to maintain some balance with their incredibly over-sized Dora the Explorer backpacks.
     After entering the room the students hung up their coats and found their way to their seats. "Miz? Where's Miz Tate" one of the girls asked; her hair barrettes swung rhythmically as she spoke. The other students anxiously looked to me for an answer. A surprising amount of anxiousness, I thought.
    "Oh she's in a meeting, so I'm just standing in for her this morning," I explained.
    "SEE! SEE Sumiyah, I told you! I TOLD you she wasn't dead," yelled Briana. "Miz, Sumiiyah thought teacher was dead, I told her she was probably just at home with her dog."
    "Oh no sweetie! Did it scare you that I picked you up from breakfast?" I asked Sumiiyah.
    " I just knew we didn't have music now....I thought Miz Tate had to be dead or else she would have come!" Of course! That would be the only reason a teacher would miss school. Such dedication :)
 

SIDE:  I'm in Panara right now and the lady at the counter just said "Miss?" talking to the lady ordering, reminding her to take her change. I'm sitting in a booth, probably fifteen-twenty feet away (although I'm terrible at guesstimating distances...) and I instinctively turned and said, "Yes?" She looked at me like "why would I be talking to you?" I looked at myself like "This is real life, not the classroom, why would she be talking to you..get it together woman, your name is Abigail."