Perception is Everything

I'm not certain if it is my special education background, or the past 10 years of being a mom, but I do think how I perceive things has differed from when I was younger. For example, while I am certified to teach elementary education, it has been a long time since I have been in an exclusively general education class (I've been in inclusion rooms). And I had a lot of experience with the under 6 crowd. Now, obviously I have a lot of knowledge in curriculum, methodology, adaptation of materials, testing and assessments. But nothing like a good old mom to handle to hard stuff. Vomit. On my first day back teaching, a child vomitted on her desk. I didn't even blink an eye. I comforted her, cleaned it up and sent her off to the nurse. Later in the day, I was asked by a colleuge how my day was going, and without thinking I answered, "Fine, no problems, oh except I had a kid puke on her desk." All very nonchalantly. Either my standards have been lowered or my tolerence has been raised. Either way, the girl was back and happy the next day. Maybe all that "other area training" paid off afterall.