Sometimes in life...

As the title begins, sometimes in life you have a chance to reflect upon the reasons you do things....I had such an opportunity today. I was searching throughout all of my classroom cabinets at 7:15pm for a plastic baggie. I realized that I had been at school for 12 hours and now was getting close to frantic looking for a baggie and to what end you may ask....well...this baggie was ABSOLUTELY necessary because I ABSOLUTELY had to save the tiny pieces of confetti from the bottom of the three hole punch. Not only did I have to save these little circles, I felt compelled to find all the three hole punches and diligently collect the chads. I was filled with a sense of excitement (I did just use the word excitement in relation to bits of paper) when I thought of the goofy rectangle bits in the binding machine in the work room, I was gleeful as I planned all the things I could hole punch that would produce multiple colors and shades of small cirlcles. Yes, I know. Crazy! It was after I had ransacked my cabinets and dug through about 3 drawers that I stopped suddenly and thought, "Why in the world am I so desperate to save these colorful bits of joy?" I realized that this need to collect for the somedays, the next years, and the unknowables is what separates the primary grade teachers from the rest of civilized society. So here's to all the people who have bought Christmas craft supplies in April, spent more than 10 dollars at the Target dollar spot, have a tubbie labeled "Future Crafts?", have reclaimed something from a trashcan in someone else's room (Hey, I needed those magazines for collage project), or have gone through with their half baked idea to save used bottle caps, crayon bits, aluminum foil pieces, fabric scraps or even the paper bits from the three hole punch for the next great craft project, the next Mother's Day gift, or the next unknown.