Those Troublesome American Kids!!

Dear Judith,

Most of my time is spent either with my kids or thinking about them, as I'm sure you understand. My love for them is so deep that I can't even fathom it. It shouldn't come as a surprise that I have more to tell you about them.

Bear

Bear is a beautiful, fun, crazy girl in my class. She was adopted, and like most American children here, her mom is a teacher. She has an older brother and an older sister. Her mom and dad are some of the nicest people that I've met on-island.

Bear only has two speeds: Super fast and asleep. She's very smart, though occasionally mean to the other kids. She's very loving, and she can't say her "R's" correctly yet, so I'm often called "Teacho!!" She loves to tell me what the other kids are doing wrong, even selling out her closest friends, but she's a good girl.

Her laughter is infectious, and she's hilarious. The only times she gets time out is for running around the classroom and I envy her energy. Her closest allies are Jonathan and Lee, and she's rarely seen with any of the other children. The three of them fight like crazy, but at the end of the day, wherever one of them is, the others are never far behind.

Jonathan

I call him Jonathan because he reminds me exactly of my brother. He's so cute and charming most of the time, but his mood swings leave me reeling. He's another one of my American kids, and his mom is a teacher at DanDan Elementary. He has an older brother in the pre-kinder class. I've heard his mom say that she'd almost rather stay at school with her twenty 2nd graders than go home to her two sons. They are a handful and a half. Still, I love Jonathan all the more for his quirks.

Jonathan spends quite a bit of his time in the infamous office. Literally, days have been spent sitting on a chair in there. It helps sometimes, but until recently, when his parents started spanking him, his bad behavior would resume as soon as he got back in the classroom. His parents were worried that his behavior would soon resemble that of his older brother's, which it did, and they decided that drastic steps needed to be taken. I'm so thankful that they did.

Jonathan spends most of his out-of-the-office time with Lee and Bear. He loves playing monster in the classroom (which is against the rules), but rarely plays it outside (where it is permissible). The problem with punishing Jonathan is that he is so incredibly cute, it's hard not to let your heart just melt when you look at him. I was once asking him why he was running around the classroom, to which he replied, "My brother was chasing me." I explained that if he stopped running, then his brother would stop chasing him. He looked up at me with huge brown eyes, nearly brimming with tears, and simply said, "But I was being a cat." I almost lost my composure and smiled but I somehow kept it all together.

Jonathan is adorable, and his genes seem promising for a great physical appearance throughout his adult life. He is a great kid, and I can't imagine my life without him.

Lee

Lee didn't want to come to school on his first day, which was also my first day. His mom tried to drop him off, but he refused. Later, he changed his mind and showed up with his grandma. His mom is a teacher and his dad works at PTI. He has a little sister, who he calls "My Baby", but he kindly informs me that I can call her Zoey.

Lee is my boy. He has been since the beginning. Of course, he drives me nuts sometimes. He almost always repeats what I just said to the other kids, with the precursor, "Miss Jaimie just said..." but he is very sweet. He rarely fights with the other children and is almost always willing to share with any of his classmates. Of course, his close cohorts are Sera and Jonathan, the other American children, but he is a friend to nearly everyone in the class.

When I say, "I love you, my boy", he replies, "I love you, my girl." There's nothing in the world that compares to the feeling I get when one of my kids tell me that they love me. It makes every hard and frustrating hour totally worth it.

He's the tallest kid in my class, but he still loves it when I pick him up. He hugs me so tight, and my heart swells with love.

I have the best job in the world. There's none other that offers this kind of satisfaction, and it's all because of those "troublesome" American kids.