My kids.

There was a recent decline in kids coming to our after-school center because parents found alternative programs that were free or they simply couldn't afford it anymore. So, while I only had the older kids before, they decided to combine all the remaining students and now I tutor all of them.

So let's break down the personalities of the younger kids. I have three 1st graders. One is the smallest, tiniest little guy. He has ADD but is really bright and advanced for his age. Too bad he can't sit still for more than 30 seconds and distracts you with his cuteness.

Another girl cries every time I try to read with her. She always has a blank look on her face and talks using only one word at a time. "What color is this? - Two?" Or well, she mostly points and guesses. Her mom dresses her up everyday like a doll and is as fragile as one.

My other 1st grader has anger management issues but an awesome lisp. So even when he's shouting or doing his demon face, the lisp makes up for everything.

Then, there's my two 3rd graders. One girl has the saddest story. Her mother abandoned her, her father is always out of town and with his girlfriend so it's up to her grandparents to take care of her. She can't count very well and I think is a little mentally retarded. She claps a lot to herself and asks me for a lot of hugs. "Can I have a hug?" (Hmmm, sound familiar, B?) and then right after, "Can I have another one?"

The other 3rd grader is foblicious, meaning she just came from the mainland a month ago. She didn't know a lick of English but works really hard studying at home and carries her Chinese-English dictionary every where. She loves to be the smartest in the whole class and talks so rapidly in Chinese that nobody knows what she's saying. She gives me apples. Okay, she gave me one apple once. But calls me "lao tzi" (teacher in Mandarin) and it's the cutest thing. The best part? Her name is Flower. Um. How cute is that?

And, finally, there is the 4th grader. He is a little bigger than the rest, not just in age but you know that I mean width. Unfortunately, being in the blunt Asian culture that I'm in, everybody calls him fat. And he's obsessed with calling himself fat. Not in that "woe is me" sort of way but in an obsessively proud way. For example, during snack time he always says, "I have to eat more because I'm fat." And then the principal-lady tells him to eat less because he's fat. Even his mom calls him "fat boy" in Chinese.

I like the older kids too but junior highers are harder to get to know. They have such walls and I think our Chinese culture does little to build up self-esteems. But, these younger ones, they are the reasons why I feel like I can stay at this job. They just need someone to be patient and encouraging to them. They drive me crazy but I kind of love them.