You know sometimes you have a day where you are so busy, so rushed off your feet, but somehow it is a day that makes you exhilarated,joyful, glad to be alive, efficient, working well and being generally jubilant.
So it was this Wednesday.
I'd stayed up ridiculously late the night before trying to finish off my Christmas song for this year, input it into Sibelius and record it to use to introduce it to the children. If you haven't heard me mention this before, I have aimed to compose one Christmas song for our Christmas production at school pretty much most years and I aim to have a complete nativity story in song form after 10 years of teaching. Perhaps next year (the start of my 10th year of teaching), I may get the children to perform an entire nativity of my making?
I always start off the Christmas singing assemblies with my song as usually it is not quite a conventional song and needs a bit of an introduction.
This morning, I said that I wanted to teach them 2 songs in Singing assembly -'Join in our story' and the 3 wise kings song(not by me). In the 20 minute session, I achieved this- the kids seemed to really like it. If you write a song, you can feel inwardly dismayed if they don't seem to connect with your song. In addition, taking my year 4's round the school as wandering Tudor minstrels, they really enjoyed it and performed and behaved pretty well considering they were essentially roaming round the school!
Lunchtime, I only got about 2 minutes to eat a toasted muffin with butter but managed to do a large amount of photocopying. The afternoon, managed to get the year 3's to play a fun notation game (invented on the spot!) and enjoyed a String recital given my 3 teachers who taught me when I was a child (I almost got roped into play viola last minute as the 4th player was late!) Choir after school was really focused, we learnt our first 2 part solo song well and then I managed to record practice tracks for the kids to put on my school blog for all the harder Christmas songs. One kid who has joined choir has really blossomed and I could see this joy in his eyes as he realised and believed that he was good at singing (he lacks confidence greatly) and was managing to lead and hold quite a complicated harmony line as we sang. It was a JOY for me to see him grow in confidence and sing his little heart out. It is reaching and helping to grow this type of child that is the thing that really touches my heart as I teach. I hope that he will stay the whole year in choir as there will be a whole wealth of experiences for him- singing at the Royal Albert Hall, London (I can imagine his reaction now!). Just thinking of him now, my heart soars with pride at his singing today!
It was one of those days too where I was bombarded by children everywhere calling me stopping me as I ran across the playground 10 times going from one task to another, it's funny that though I am not a person who has a maternal instinct, it's different having this whole family of hundreds of children. It was a day where I was creative and happy.
I will never be that succinct, eloquent blogger who manages to promote and produce a million short and useful posts over the years, growing in the ranks, being respected many places over and being that blogger that keeps and maintains a smooth, consistent programme. I will never be that catchy, 'I must follow this person-they are one to watch' writer or I will never be in a niche or be one thing to all people that seek that one thing. I have, always been, a jack-of-all trades, master of none (I was told that in an audition once that perhaps I took too much on and I was in danger of becoming that if I didn't stop starting new instruments.). I need to be this bohemian, hippy-like, yet rather prudish at other times, conventional, yet unconventional, totally predictable yet sometimes-not, waffler who writes about things that don't interest you, yet you are kind and comment positively despite this.
Because, this place here, is a place I can spill out moments and days like this, I can share these happy moments and immortalise them in a place that I can go back and cherish. I love to write this stream of consciousness, chaotic and unclear though it is, because it is the essential me. Chaotic, messy, wonderfully me!!!
Each one day like this one, where I feel alive, feel I want to tell the world that I Had A Good Day- may they be a treasure in my increasing years and dotage!
Do you have these days?
xxx