They are 6 years old today!! The twins are 6!! I remember the day they walked into my classroom. 2 years old, one crying for Mom, the other dumping the bin full of dinosaurs with a determined smile I would get to know well. They were so… tiny. I had the pleasure of getting acquainted with both during ESY two years ago, and again last year. Still… 6 years old!!!
Tonight, while shopping for Easter stuff, I ran into another former student. (Strange day) I am always surprised at how big my former students are. Age may be more of a shock than size, though. When you meet a child you haven’t laid eyes on in 14 some-odd years… The 4 year old I knew is replaced by a young man. A young man, taller than myself, who speaks in sentences that have nothing to do with dinosaurs and toy cars. A young man who’s face grows redder by the minute as his doting mother recounts his life’s accomplishments to me, his preschool teacher.
This is the first year I have had a job with that strange potential of seeing former students on a regular basis, and I am as excited by the prospect as I am sad. There is something to be said about the unexpected surprise, the doting parents, the shy, embarrassed child, and the swell in my heart as I see one more.
bethoughtkrause 
What a wonderful feeling! This is only my second year teaching and I have all high schoolers. Very few things they do are what anyone could call “cute”. I am looking forward to seeing who they turn into some day down the road.
LikeLike
I love your last paragraph. I can picture the doting parents and the shy child. I remember when I ran into one of my 5th graders as a high school senior. Not the same shyness or doting paragraph, but the same swelling with pride.
LikeLike
Connecting with former students is a teacher’s dessert!!!!
LikeLike
When you teach your get the bittersweet. I ran into one of my former preschoolers who is a junior now. We get them for such a short time but our impacts can be felt long after. Thank you for sharing this with us.
LikeLike