When the snow comes...

The past couple of days, I happened to be in the classroom when the kids came back from lunch. I noticed something peculiar. One of my boys, would linger around the classroom, pretending to be busy doing something, but really just waiting for everyone else to leave. Finally, when it was just me and him, he'd come up and give me a big hug and sit on my lap. This was strange, because he usually is "too cool" to hug the teacher. After a few minutes of talking with him, I told him I was going to go to the store or get coffee. Both days, he said, "NO! Please don't go..." At time time I remember thinking this was strange, cause he's not usually the loving type of kid.

Today in just our normal classroom conversation, I understood. We were "trying" to write a letter to someone. At first he wrote, "Dear Mom and Dad." Then he erased dad. He said, "Just Mom." When I asked why, he told me that his Dad went to go live with his Grandparents and uncle. Unprompted, he began to spill how his mom and dad were fighting and now his dad went away. He said he will not see him until "the snow comes," which I guess means Christmas. This kid is SUPER into baseball and boy things. When I asked him how it made him feel, he looked down and said, "Sad, because now no one can take me to the baseball game..." Ugh, my heart just broke for him!

I guess I'd just been living in a false reality, thinking that Korean kids didn't have to deal with these things. Divorce is not as common here and I rarely hear about it. I've met the parents here, and it never even occurred to me that MY students could be dealing with these things. He's 5. I know he doesn't fully understand everything, but to him, he just knows his daddy left. I'm glad I know. I love this little boy... I don't know how to best teach him.