What’s your job?

No matter who asks:

     doctor

     cashier

     insurance agent

     random stranger in the elevator 

I answer

     teacher

What grade?

The standard follow-up.

First grade

The inevitable unchanging single syllable 4-letter response is

Cute

They can be. 

They’re also:

feisty and opinionated 

timid and uncertain 

liars and painfully honest

hilarious and NOT!

surprising and predictable 

constant conundrums

consumingly curious

cautiously certain

ferociously feral

frustrating

funny

fabulous 

They learn 

even when they’re trying not to 

mostly they sink their teeth 

(the ones that aren’t falling out)

into your heart

and never let go. 

That’s my job. 

What’s yours?