November 25, Birthday surprise

“Today is my birthday,” self-named fourth grader Mr. Pickle informed me in the hallway before class.

After getting the kids settled once class began I announced Mr. Pickle’s birthday and we all sang to him, my kids surprisingly busting out a perfect English chorus.

As for Mr. Pickle, he immediately burst into tears. This only made the students sing louder.

The homeroom teacher paused reading her novel in the back corner to whip out her phone and record him, presumably to send to his parents.

I assume they were happy, surprised tears because his classmates wouldn’t be so cruel as to serenade him in distress.

After we finished, someone asked in disbelief, “are you crying?”

“No,” he sniffled vehemently, wiping at his eyes.

He had recovered fully just a few minutes later where he energetically jumped out of his seat to play our numbers game.

I hope the rest of his day was fun, and perhaps slightly less traumatizing.