Nothin' but net. (aka Chapter 300 in the Book of Frank.)

I went to work this morning full of great expectation, hope and a thousand prayers.

I reminded myself that each day is a new day, and I had reminded the kids of this as they flew out the door the day before.

The morning went surprising well. Of course, I spent ten minutes before the children arrived frantically scouring the teacher’s lounge for help when I was informed again that my para sub cancelled. Sure, I had a parent coming to my rescue when I sent an email gently requesting help (TEACHER NEEDS HELP OR ELSE!!!) but I was counting on that other body to help me live through centers.

It worked- and an angel from heaven came in from another room to pinch hit for an hour. In addition to helping with centers, she also recorded our lunch orders and took them to the cafeteria. (This tidbit will become important very soon.)

I was in a much better mood by Kid Writing, and even Frank’s antics during Library couldn’t dampen my spirits. After all, there are some “things” that are just a part of each day. (And most of those things involve Frank.)

By the time we went to lunch I was feeling a lot like the woman sliding surprisingly fast down a slippery slope. Again.

We went through the lunch line, and by some cruel twist of fate Sally (the young lady in our room who is the pickiest eater in the universe) was forced to take the turkey sandwich that she did not order in place of the grilled cheese sandwich that she DID order. (I didn’t go down without a fight- but I lost the battle.)

She was in tears by the time we all got back to the room, and sat at the end of a table crying. I followed her back hoping to find some items in our snack closet to ease her pain when Frank walked in behind me.

He placed his tray beside Sally, who was clearly distraught. Her shoulders were hunched, her head was hanging down and tears were falling onto her lunch tray. The tray that contained only the turkey sandwich that she hadn’t ordered.

Frank looked at me, looked at her, looked at me, and then back at her. He looked at his tray and picked up his grilled cheese.

“Do you want mine? I’ll swap ya.”

She looked up, and through her tears nodded and began to smile.

Then, I heard a sound. It started softly, and ended in an incredible round of applause.

Amid the roar, I heard Stanley yell, “ FRANK! YOU’RE THE MAN!!!”

He blushed a deep red, realizing that all of his classmates had witnessed his simple act of kindness. And so had I.

He shoots, he shoots, he shoots and THIS time- he scores.