A Day For An Apple

I had an apple in my lunch Wednesday. That wasn't the big treat. I have an apple in my lunch just about every day. Every day that I'm at school, anyway. What made this apple special was how nice and red and almost stereotypically apple-ish it was. It was the very picture of what you find when you look up "A is for Apple," as I do on a regular occasion when I am working with kindergartners.
Maybe that has something to do with why Ginnie gave me the apple while she was standing in line, waiting for the morning bell to ring. Ginnie has been very free with her enthusiasm for my computer class. She has told me numerous times that computers are her favorite class and has told me, not too discretely, that I am her favorite teacher. I try not to let on that I know that I am the second teacher she's ever had, right after the lady who teaches her all the rest of the hours of the week, her kindergarten teacher.
As the computer teacher and part-time PE coach, I have a very nice gig. It's not unlike being the uncle who takes the kids out and gets them all sugared up and then deposits them back on the front porch of the parents who will have to deal with all the "fun" that I have been able to have with them. I try to keep things real by showing up wherever possible as additional authority: "Hey, don't run in the halls," or "Don't lean on the bulletin boards." By the time kids make it to fourth and fifth grade, they tend to roll their eyes a lot, and mutter "Oh my god!" under their breath. It's part of the package.
But for now, Ginnie thinks I'm great. She handed me the apple and told me with quiet assurance, "I brought this for you." I try not to think about the fact that she has just found out that she has a substitute for the day. That apple is still very sweet.