"Rules" vs Helping {Slice of Life}

Prologue - Snack is necessary and for the majority of my career I've had families donate bags of snacks and I would quickly pass out the same thing to each student.  My first building did it this way so everyone would have snack.  It was easy to give out and quicker.  My second building had everyone bring their own but I held true to what was comfortable until a few years ago for health reasons within my classroom.  When I made the switch I decided I would not provide any snack, even if students forgot.  

Last Week - It was independent reading time.  The room was quiet and students were reading.  My heart was in turmoil.  He forgot his snack.  Usually that's okay but today I happened to ask if he ate breakfast because he shared he was hungry.  He hadn't eaten breakfast.  I kept thinking about any food I might have to share and realized I had some pretzels in my lunch today.  He left for a restroom break.  I grabbed a brown institutional paper towel and my bag of pretzels.  At his seat, I put a small handful of my pretzels and wrote a note in pencil; I had some pretzels in my lunch today and thought I could share them with you.  Love, Mrs. Robek.  I went to the park bench at the carpet and waited for him to come back.  He read my note and slowly lifted his head searching the room for me.  I motioned a thumbs up and he just beamed ear to ear.  We exchanged smiles and my heart was no longer in turmoil.

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