I took the girls on a trip down Memory Lane.

It was a spur of the moment decision and one I am very glad I made.

I had not been to the elementary school I taught at since Little Bug was two! The week of pre-planning I decided to make the drive there with my two girls.

Little Bug said, “You were a teacher here before I was born?”. I think it was hard for her wrap her mind around the fact that Mommy did things that didn’t involve her before she was born. It is hard for me to wrap my mind around that, too. It seems Little Bug has been here forever and not just four years!

I stood on these steps four years to take a picture with my classes. And that day I put my two little “students” on those steps and took a picture. I didn’t have to do silly things to make my students smile, but I did for these two!

I haven’t walked the halls of this school as a teacher in six years and it is amazing how time changes the appearance of all things. Well, some things never change.

These steps, that I had to walk up and down a hundred times a day, are still the very same.

It is still blustery hot in there during the warm months and frigid cold in the winter months. I really don’t miss having to train a group of 20 or more nine and ten year olds how to walk up and down these steps. Oh those steps. They caused me much pain as a teacher, giving the mischievous students ample opportunity to be mischievous!

And then we made it to my beloved classroom. I still think of it as “my” classroom. My teacher friend is still plugging away teaching up there in my classroom. It was wonderful to see her again. I was always so grateful for those huge windows in the back of the classroom. This school is one of the oldest in the city and the building has so much character compared to some of the newer school buildings that have been built in recent years.

I love this picture! My sweet baby girl sitting on the floor in my classroom reading a book. The floor her Mama walked on for four years as “Miss A”. It’s funny. My teacher friend introduced me to the teacher next door as “Miss A”. I guess at that school and in that classroom I will forever be known as “Miss A”. That is fine with me because that is exactly who I was within those four walls.

I went to every hall way and saw all the teachers that had been there when I taught. I didn’t just spend four years at this school. I started volunteering there when I was in high school (a friend of mine taught there and mentored me as a teacher). So many of the teachers there have seen me grow up from high school student, to college student, to college intern (I interned with my friend), to 4th grade teacher in the upstairs corner room, to Mommy who comes back to visit every now and again. Teaching was stressful, and unfortunately due to state mandated standards, it’s only gotten more stressful for my friends who are still there, but this school will always be home to me. I have way more fond memories than bad memories there.

We left the school and walked over to the park where I would take my students for recess.

The bench in the background of this picture is where Miss A would sit, probably for the first time in the day, while all her students would go play.

There was no sitting at the park for Miss A this day as there were two little girls who wanted to be pushed on the swings!

I am thankful for my time at this school; for the friends I made there, the experiences I had as a teacher that grew and stretched me and for the students that walked through my classroom door each year.

My mind was never far from my ultimate goal while I walked those halls…the children that would one day be my children. I had no idea what was ahead of me those four years I taught 4th grade.

We never know where life will take us, but we can always count on the faithfulness of God, every step of the way. Walking around that school with my two daughters, reminiscing about time’s past, reminded me of that.

- Elaine