...

Today I encountered a kid whose parents' "home phone" is actually their neighbor's phone, because they can't afford a phone line; apparently it's a common thing to encounter in the school's neighborhood. Another parent listed her home phone, answered it, and said she'd be awhile because she was in the next town over. It didn't add up, and in the meantime, her daughter had a twisted or broken ankle hurting too bad to walk. The mother didn't come until the end of school. Another girl came in with a terrible cough, leading her to coughing fits that ended in vomiting. I asked how long she'd had the cough and she wasn't too sure; when I asked why she hadn't gone to the doctor the answer was that it was because her little brother had gone to get his shots and they can only take on kid to the doctor. Last week I was holding a kid's head over the trash can and he looked up at me to tell me he does the same thing to his mom; he holds her head over the toilet when she's puking due to a "baby in her stomach." I saw a girl who'd come to me last week and she told me she was staying with her aunt now, which she said was a good thing because her aunt doesn't beat her.

These kids put things in perspective. I wish I could give them the innocence they're supposed to have.