Why I Love to Teach!

Yesterday at school, I was in the middle of teaching my 6th grade Math class when during independent work time one of my students came up and asked, "Can I go tell my mom something?" (His mom was volunteering at school that day just down the hall from our classroom.) I asked the student, "Is this an emergency and can it wait?" He replied, 
"Kind of,  I just really need to tell her something." I then agreed to let him go. 
When he came back he stopped in front of me and said, "Do you remember the toothpaste I had on my Science elements project? Well, it is in my backpack and has gotten all over everything in there." I paused for a moment and then asked, "Why did you have the toothpaste in your back pack? That was over a week ago since the project was due." He just shrugged his shoulders. I then asked, "What do you mean it is all over everything?" 
He sheepishly replied, "All over my math homework, my books, and pens and pencils." 
Knowing his mom, I knew she was probably laughing hysterically at this fiasco! I then asked him, "What did your mom do when you told her?" He pointed to the classroom door and said, "She is laughing."
Of course, we then had to stop and enjoy the laugh ourselves! As he is unloading his back pack and the whole class is helping him clean up his supplies and books, his mother comments, "At least everything will be minty fresh!" 
There are times it is just not worth getting upset over certain things. He was so worried that he had ruined his books and his work. Once we cleaned everything up, it was not so bad. Everything was okay, we got to have a good laugh, and this young man even earned a new nickname.......Captain Flouride!
Just another day in the life of a 6th grade teacher!