Thursday, April 15, 2010

Louisa May Alcott was a genius!




First of all, I'd like to share with you my random teacher's lounge tear off calender quote of the week:




While faith makes all things possible, it is love that makes all things easy.




Isn't that just stinkin profound? It has been a boring, AIMS state testing week experience. I've had hallway duty. Oh, don't gasp with excitement! For 12 hours this week I've been guarding the hallway--not from intruders or masked ninjas--but from noise causing 4th and 5th graders getting rowdy while on potty break. The bad news is, I discovered that the hallway stays a frigid 60 degrees, the good news is that I've read two good books!!!!! In desperation yesterday morning I realized that I hadn't picked a new one, and grabbed an ancient one from the bookshelf that I probably haven't looked at in 17 years--"Little Men" by Alcott. It is strange how motherhood (and especially being a mother to a raggedy toddler boy) changes your perception of classic novels. I was at times rolling with laughter at the playful antics of Jo's boys, and then at other times brushing away tears as Alcott describes the search for Jo's little son Rob, who gets lost in the woods picking blackberries for his mommy. When Jo and the search party discover him, he is fast asleep in the woods, with a berry stained mouth and sweaty red face. He only eats just a few berries, despite his fearful hunger, because he was saving them for his "Marmar". After clutching him to her, Robby says "I knew that you would come!", and then proceeds to shove the berries into her mouth. Reading this novel reminds me of the sweaty dirt-stained hands that wrap so tightly around his Momma's neck and the incessant goodnight kisses bestowed upon me by my Max. I admit that I indulge him with caresses and loves and kindnesses a lot, but I don't think that he will ever fault me for not loving him enough. I am ever realizing that he is more of a miracle than I ever supposed. That unique little body and stout mind were meant to come to us, and I pray that we can grow him into a fruitful tree before long.




4 comments:

jenny said...

great post! little women is my favorite book. the first time i read little men was visiting grandma & grandpa kerr one summer. they had a beautiful hardback copy down in the basements bookcases. remember those?

Giuli said...

Believe it or not, that is the exact copy that I'm reading!!!! It's an old blue hardback from 1927. It says Winifred on the front. How extraordinarily cool!

Lily Kerr said...

Jenny's reading is far to advanced for me. I just remember having Grandma Kerr read us the Barba-papa books about the big pink blob thing.

Lily Kerr said...

Did any of the kids catch you when you were crying? Remember when I was in high school and was on a field trip with the buddy club and we went to see Toy Story 2, and I must have been really emotional that day, but when Jessie sings that song about when someone loved her, and I am crying. Well, then my little special needs buddy turns to me and says, "What is wrong with you?!" Talk about embarissing! And I do know that that was one of the longest run-on sentences ever! Don't judge!