That time I was needed…
So I love my job. I feel valued and happy and loved and all
that good stuff; but on Friday, I went from loving my job to hopelessly devoted
and obsessive teenage loving my job.
My Fridays are pretty hardcore. I teach all morning with no
break. I love it, but it’s intense and I have little time to jet from one class
to another. After teaching all morning, I packed up my stuff, cleaned up the
classroom, and NASCAR marched back to my office (I always speed walk with a
purpose. People at work say I always look like I’m on my way somewhere
important. Yes, yes I am! Aka, I don’t walk slow. Ever. I’m always on a
mission.)
Anyway, I was on my way to my office when I heard my name
being called by a student. I turned around and was met with a very anxious
sixth grader who grabbed my hand and said, “Mrs. Sarah! I need you! I’m on my
period and I’m not prepared and I don’t know what to do! Help me.” I
metaphorically tightened my SuperTeacher cape and told the student (let’s call
her S) to come with me to my office. At this point, the second bell rang and S
looked like she was about to cry. She said she had to go to class because her
teacher would be angry she was late, but she couldn’t because she felt
uncomfortable and she didn’t know what to do.
I told S to calm down and that I would talk to her teacher.
I asked if she had a pad and she looked confused. Then I asked her in Chinese,
and she got even more anxious and shook her head, saying she was unprepared. I
told her no problem and to come with me. Thank goodness I had supplies! As a
woman, I am always prepared for a situation like this, especially working in a
middle school with girls who will inevitably need supplies that they don’t have
because they cannot anticipate puberty…
Anyway, she came and lingered outside my office while I
grabbed a pad from my desk. I then walked her to the bathroom and came in with
her. I showed her the pad and started to explain what she could do. She was
really nervous and said “but what if…” to which I answered her questions (no
need to go into detail. The main point is, I helped her and calmed her down
before leaving).
“So take this and please come to me if you need anything
else. You’ll be fine! Remember what I said in FLASH? This happens to every
girl, so you are not alone. Get cleaned up and I’ll wait for you outside.”
“Mrs. Sarah?”
“Yes, S?”
“I’m scared…”
My Mother Hen began clucking like crazy at this point and I
was like, holy shit, this is such a beautiful feeling, I want a child right
now, and then approximately 46 seconds later, I snapped out of it…
“I know you are.” I smiled and gently touched her shoulder
in a proud mama kind of way, “You’ll be okay. Do you want me to wait here for
you?” Cue LifeTime movie music
She shook her head, so I took my cue and left. I walked
briskly to her classroom where the geography teacher was setting up her lesson.
Luckily, I know the geography teacher, so she wasn’t super pissed when I
interrupted the class. I walked up to her and whispered, “Hey! Sorry to interrupt,
but S is in the bathroom. She’s on her period and she needed my help. She will
be late and I told her I would tell you. Please don’t be angry with her.” The
teacher smiled and nodded. We then shared a brief moment of ‘I’m a woman who
has had approximately 600 periods and I totally remember the first one and I
get you girl. Pussies unite!’
I went back to my office, put my hand over my heart, and
felt like I was a 34 year old mama. It was a cool feeling. I felt so needed!
“My FLASH class worked,” I said out loud in my office. A few of my coworkers
smiled at me and said it was an important class. I felt really, really good.
For the rest of the day, I thought about S. I didn’t want to
like, ask her “Are you okay?” in the middle of the hall or anything. I didn’t
want to draw attention because omg, grade 6 kids spread information like
roaches spread their offspring. It’s crazy how anything said or thought in the
hallway is spread like wildfire. Something can happen in my class and before it
ends, Bernard will know about it because a grade 6 kid will run to his office
and be like, “Mr. Bernard! Mrs. Sarah danced to Taylor Swift today!! Do you
like Taylor Swift? We’re reading a book in class…” and then Bernard will smile
and nod and be extremely sweet and listen to the life of any grade 6 student
who comes to him desperately wanting someone to listen to his or her redundant,
yet adorable, stories.
So I’m in my office marking papers when there’s a knock at
the door. I don’t look up because there are like 8 people in my office and
students come in for different teachers all the time. And then there’s a little
sound, “Uh, Mrs. Sarah?” I look up and it’s S. She looks a little pale but is
definitely calmer than before.
“I feel really uncomfortable.”
“That’s normal. Drink lots of water. How’s your head? Does
it hurt?”
I continue to tell her that the first period is
uncomfortable because her body hasn’t felt it before and I gave her some tips
and made sure she didn’t have PE class that day so she could lay low. I then
told her to come to me whenever she wanted and ask me anything. To be honest, I
was pleasantly surprised that she was so open with me in my office with 7 other
people around to hear her. She was pretty explicit about her period… but that’s
good!!! She was scared and she wanted answers. Luckily, she came to
SuperSexEdTeacherSarah. This was my time to shine!!! (My grammar has been rusty
lately and I’ve been a little self-conscious about my level of English writing
skills because I’ve been living in an ESL environment for so long and I watch a
lot of crap reality TV, so I feel like I’m losing my jam…. However, when it
comes to first period knowledge, I feel pretty damn confident, so I was rocking
this…).
I was feeling super momish at this point; but then I
realized, wait! I’m NOT her mom! I then quickly marched over to her homeroom
teacher’s office and asked if I could have a word with her in private. I
explained that S got her first period today and she might be a little
distracted in homeroom. I then asked if she could call S’s mom and let her know
so that she could be prepared to talk to S and maybe get necessary supplies so
S could be comfortable.
The homeroom teacher had a huge smile on her face the whole
time. She shook my hand and nodded, telling me I was a great teacher and I had
“so much care for the students.” I felt like, at this point, my FLASH job for
the day was done. I had helped the student directly and talked to the necessary
teachers to make sure S was taken care of. In terms of cultural sensitivity, I
made sure her mom was called, and I didn’t give S any specific advice because
it is not my place. I gave her very general, medical advice and let her know
that I was there. And always would be. J
Right before I left for a Friday meeting, I saw S in the
hallway and nodded her way. She gave me a ‘thumbs up’ and I winked at her.
Mission accomplished. If I helped her even marginally with one of the scariest
things a prepubescent girl has to go through, well then I feel like I succeeded
in my job that day.
I didn’t finish marking that day nor did I do everything on
my “To Do” list; but when life happens, I can’t help but put aside everything
that can wait and attend to the here
and now. This is what makes life interesting at the end of the day.
So like I said, I love my job… but on Friday specifically, I
felt needed. I can’t help but have a warm and fuzzy feeling when a student
comes to me for advice on something that isn’t academic. I love being the FLASH
teacher!!! Who’s next? If on Monday a boy comes to me telling me about his wet
dream, as much as that would be TMI to the max, I think it’s safe to say that
my FLASH class was ultimately hardcore successful!!!
….I do hope I don’t hear about any tween boy’s dream though.
Because creepy.
Until next time,
Sarah the maternal Wun
