Little guys become big guys eventually

I'm currently sitting in my classroom, grading quizzes, and periodically being interrupted by 9th grade boys asking questions about a homework assignment. I'll hear a light knock on the door, and look up to see their goofy 14-year-old faces scrunched into the 5x14 window of the door. I wave them in and listen as they ask their questions in a very round-about, very distracted way. They can't stand still long enough to get a question out. Instead, they shove their hands in their pockets and sway side to side; or pick up something off my desk and fiddle with it; or shift their eyes from the board, to me, to my desk, to the window, etc.

The best part is that sometimes, when they're talking, I get a bit of a vision of what they will look like when they're seniors. When they're a little more aware of their own actions (note: I said a LITTLE). When they're finally as tall as their feet are big, and their faces aren't quite so babyish. It makes me smile to imagine them that way, because I know they're going to be great.

Today at lunch I was drinking a Dr. Pepper. One of my boys came, cuddled up to me, looked into my face, and said, "Miss Richardson, I know you love me. Can I have some?" The answer, of course, was no, he couldn't have any... but I did make him a deal: if he gets a C+ for the Quarter (a small miracle, really), I'll buy him a 2 liter of Dr. Pepper.

I wish you could meet these guys...