I have the sweetest story to cure your Monday morning blues.  I have been a kindergarten teacher for 17 years.  I love my job and my children become like my own.  Recently, I was having one of "those" days.  You know...we've all had them.  Nothing was going right.  I just needed to hit fast forward and get it over with.  My 6 year old wouldn't cooperate at home so that we could get to school on time.  I felt like the worst mom ever because I spent a lot of time fussing at him about everything he knew he needed to be doing and just would not do. It was one of those times when his selective hearing decided to kick in.  It broke my heart when he got out of the car and didn't respond to my "I love you and have a great day."  But, I had to get to my class and get my own day started.  

My children began to arrive and I could tell the day was not going to get much better.  My coffee was knocked over across my desk by a swinging coat, a paint cup was spilled on the floor (thankfully it was tile) and I already had a child telling me their belly was hurting and they thought they were going to throw up.  And this is all in the first hour of our day.  I sat down at my desk and shut my eyes for a quick second and took a deep breath.  I have a very observant little girl who came over and said, "Mrs. Moss, are you going to sleep?"  I told her I was just not having a great day and needed to sit down a minute.  The next thing will knock your socks off because it did mine.  She stood there, starring at me with the biggest smile I have ever seen. So big she could have been laughing.  She said "Here is one smile."  At first, I didn't know what she was talking about but she went on to remind me of a book we read at the beginning of the year.  It was 'One Smile' by Cindy McKinley.  In this book one little girl smiles at a stranger who looks sad.  The smile gave the stranger encouragement.  He helps another person who then does something for another person and so on.  This smile from my sweet little girl helped to change my day. She went on to tell me that paint on the floor is no big deal.  If it would have been on the carpet we would have been in trouble with the cleaning people. 

She definitely helped me to see the silver lining of my cloudy day.   I was so proud of her to remember the book we had read and to know that her little smile was important.  She could have been playing in housekeeping with her friends but instead she was making me feel better.  So, remember to pass along a smile.  You never know how much it will change someone's life.  And I try to remember that no matter what kind of day I am having, I have lots of little children that love me no matter what.  And for that I am very thankful!! 

Have a wonderful Monday!