Questions from 2nd Graders

Yesterday I told my 2nd graders that I will be leaving sometime in March to adopt Miss Zoya.  They were soooo excited and a little sad.  I had talked to our school counselor about how to tell them and what to say and how to answer some of the tough questions.  I really stressed about telling them but I'm glad I finally did.  I wanted to wait until we had a travel date so it was more concrete for them, but I had to tell them since my sub will be shadowing me on Monday.  I told them I would be traveling to "the purple place" (Eastern Europe on our classroom map is purple).  I showed them Zoya's picture and they all ooooohhhed and aaahhhhed and smiled with their missing teeth-ed smiles.  I told them that she lived in an orphanage, which is a little like a hospital, because her mom and dad couldn't take care of her.  Their initial questions were pretty funny and not the tough questions like I expected.  They asked, "Are you scared to fly?" and "How long will you be in the airplane?" and "Will you be able to see fish or sharks from the airplane?" and "Where will you stay when you are there?" and "How old is the baby?" and my favorite, "Why can't Mr. B just go and you stay here with us?"  My other favorite, "Will there be a beach and a pool there?" LOL I WISH!  Too cute.  One of my sweet little girls said, "My eyes are getting runny" and she started crying.  :(  Toward the end of the day, after they had some time to think about it, some of the more difficult questions started.  One of them asked, "Why can't her mom take care of her?" and "Who is taking care of her?"  I did my best to answer their questions in a way that would be appropriate for 2nd graders--maintaining their innocence but also being honest.  That was tricky. 

We are hoping to hear our travel date this week!! We can't wait and are starting to shop and get things ready for the trip.  Keep checking back for our hopeful big announcement about our travel date!