Sad Little Boys

So I asked N, as we were walking home from school today, if he'd heard some important news that day.

"Oh, yes," he perked up, all proud to be able to tell me something I didn't know (as far as he knew, that is).

After he'd told me that Mrs. W is "never, never, never, never, never" coming back to My Kids' Elementary, I asked him how that made him feel.

"Sad," he said. "But not as sad as Trent. I just did this," [he put his face in his hands to hide it, one of his characteristic gestures], "but Trent cried."

This almost broke my heart. Trent is the tough kid in the class; the one with attitude, the one who constantly gets his name on the board for a reminder and/or has his 'super star' taken away from him. (Ten super stars earn you a prize from Mrs. W's treasure chest.) He's the one who gets pouty and sullen when you play a game and he doesn't win. He's the one who brags about all the Big Boy things he does, things that are much cooler than what anyone else might do.

And he cried when his teacher told him she's leaving.

The official note she sent home today was a heartbreaker, too. It started with "I've enjoyed getting to know all of you, and we've become a family. That's why it's especially difficult to make this announcement." But what really got me was the part where she said, "I have already told the children about the impending changes, and what I will be doing in my new position. I also told them that I will find the best teacher who will continue to love them and prepare them for First Grade."

Continue to love them and prepare them for First Grade...

No wonder Trent cried.