Recently I was teaching a beautiful group of reception children. I was quite familiar with this class, as I had worked with them before, and so they were excited to see me again. One of the little girls in the class had brought her ‘pet dog’ along to keep her company for the day. I didn’t have any problem with her holding her toy for comfort, so long as it didn’t keep ‘barking’ during class. She complied by making sure it kept quiet and well behaved. (In other terms, she stopped pressing the sound button). My, oh my, did she love and nurture that puppy! It was so sweet to see. She patted it and cuddled it and protected it from the stomping feet of her classmates, meanwhile working hard on a portrait of it in every spare moment she had. Her picture turned out beautifully and I was very impressed when she came and showed it to me at lunchtime. I complimented her hard work and told her that her puppy must be proud of such a lovely picture. Then, she looked up at me and said, ‘I was making it for you Mrs T!’ She handed me her masterpiece and for a moment I forgot how challenging I had been finding my job and felt utterly content.

You see, sometimes it only takes the small things to make it all worthwhile. A little gift from a student to show us we’re appreciated, being offered a tea in the staffroom to show us we’re supported, a phone call from a friend to show us we’re thought of, or arriving home to loved ones with open arms to remind us that we are loved. Our journey may be hard at times, but how blessed we are to have the small things to make it all worthwhile.