Childhood...

Snow falling in heaps, children sledding,
red cheeks, hysterical laughter! Lost in thought, it's easy to miss the sheer innocent enjoyment of snow..until one child, one sweet-(this one is!)little six year old child stands up and peers out the window..and there is no need for language...forlorn he stares at his friends, whilst I book in hand, go over the days of the week, Monday...silent tears streak down his face, and for the first time, I wonder what am I doing...I want with all my heart to say, go have fun play in the snow, who needs English at this age! Yet I can't...I try to quietly get him to go wash his face and relax, but here language is needed and even his sister stares blankly at me, and tells me why he's upset (in czech) yet I understand why...I leave the book it's useless now, and try to find a game to make it up to him..I do not know why I felt so bad, perhaps because he was so quiet and resigned, unlike some other children who misbehave and I can feel some indignation! I could empathize with his sorrow, yet I know there will be many days of snow, and many more tears to come...life is hard, if only I could be sure that at least he IS learning something....