All they want for Christmas...

There have been a few students who have made priceless comments to me over the past three days of school. Some are priceless because of the faith that they still have in Santa and his abilities, and others are priceless because they break my heart and let me know why I wanted to be a teacher.

For instance,

G. wants Santa to get him Super Bowl Tickets. I told him that I thought that Santa would try his hardest, but Super Bowl Tickets are a high order, even for the big man himself.

On a more reasonable note,

C. would like the Blue Ranger, the Red Ranger, and not the Grey Ranger because he already had the Grey action figure, and it isn't as cool as the others. He would also like three new monster trucks. One with the Blue Ranger on it, one with the Red Ranger on it, and one with the Black Ranger on it, because he already has the Grey one and it is not as cool.

M. wants a pony. I know from childhood experience that there is a 99.9% chance that M. is NOT getting a pony.

On a more serious note,

J. wants his dad to get to come back from Iraq again soon, because he wasn't here long enough last time he visited.

Ji. wants his mom to get out of g-a-l(He spelled it to me). Ji's cousin reminds him that Jail is spelled J-A-L, but there might be an "I" in there somewhere.

M. wants a family where she can stay for longer than just a few months.

M. and S. would like to never have to worry about having enough money to pay for their lost library books ever again.

A. wants to understand why the adjective modifies the noun, and why the adverb modifies the verb, and why does the adjective come before the noun. He wants his eyes to stop "watering" when he doesn't understand something.

T. just wants a friend.

So here is a request to Jesus, and Santa for that matter, just from me this holiday season:
Santa, please let this time of celebration be a time that my students can enjoy. That they won't have to worry, be afraid, be sad, or be angry. Even if my students don't get what they want for Christmas, let the day and the days around it be comforting and free of pain and confusion. Let them not be Alone.

Be with them.