Spreading the Love

I am a first year teacher this year. They say it is really hard, and they are right. There have been lots of challenges I didn't expect such as: stapler repair, puke being deposited everywhere, celebrating every holiday known to man, never having as much time as I want for science and social studies, and teaching self defense when our county decided to tell students if an intruder comes in- its ok for you to fight back. My class is made up of mostly darlings and a few turkeys that just seem to love to test me. Lately, I've been worrying that I spend all my time disciplining the few and not teaching the rest...
That is not my goal. My goal is to take a group of 5 and 6 year olds and turn them in to responsible and caring kids who can also read and do basic math. I was contemplating if I had done a good job when I had a conversation with another teacher, Kindergarten, next door to me. I asked her if all her kids liked to hold hands all the time, cause mine sure do. She told me none of her kids held hands, it was just my kids because of the hippie culture we have in our room. This was delightful to hear! It made me feel like my kids really do care about each other and that I have somehow helped them learn to do that. Then yesterday we went into a different room to watch a movie with another class. The class we were visiting stayed in their desks, while my kids sat on the carpet. 15 minutes into the movie, all of mine have laid down with their heads on each other's stomachs, sharing jackets for pillows. I loved it. A lot of teachers have trouble with their kids bickering a lot, but mine just love each other. So I am starting to feel like possibly I have done something good in these kids lives. Happiness!