Including everyone

I signed up to volunteer in Portia's kindergarten class every Wednesday. I was never able to commit myself before (having a toddler at home), so I was excited to finally have this chance to spend time in my child's classroom. It's a little exhausting (I don't know how teachers do it) and I'm only supposed to be there for a half hour, but it usually goes longer.

Today, as we were finishing up "Centers," in which my job was to help the kids staple books together in order and read to them about being healthy, the kids were heading out to recess. Portia was sitting at my table as the last group. A little girl asked Portia if she was ready to head out to play. Another girl came up and asked her to play. There was some sort of scuffle and the last thing I heard was, "We include everyone!" in a tone that wasn't quite as caring as it should have been. I was really proud of Portia for standing up to a friend and insisting on including others. I've always felt strongly about this and am glad that's rubbing off on Portia. But now, I think we'll work on the tone Portia uses when suggesting such a harmonious playing arrangement.