Alright all you other Mommas… I want to tell you that your kids are alright. My kids are alright. They are all alright together in their little school building.
I think about my kids in stolen moments throughout the day, as I’m sure you do. I think about whether or not they are warm enough (why didn’t she listen to me and wear the long sleeved shirt instead of the tank top?), if they are hungry (were those waffles enough fuel to get him through until lunch?), if they have friends, if they are behaving in class (why must we have this color coded clip chart thingy?), if they know everything they need to know every day, is she smart enough, is he raising his hand before blurting out, are they understanding what the teachers are saying? These questions and many more go through my mind throughout each day, and sometimes I think about them at night too. And I don’t mean obsessive type thoughts, I mean the thoughts that a Momma thinks about her babies. I think about the glue and the glitter and the paper projects, and the handwriting, the books and pencils and all that learning and discovering that takes place in a school. I think about the friendships and laughter, the running and playground time and the games and the love that goes on in my children’s lives when I’m not around. So goes my Momma think-cycle. Worry-laugh-think.
If you have any of the above thoughts, let me tell you about what I know.
I know our kids are alright. Yours and mine.
I work there. I work with the kids with the chubby cheeks and dimples, the ones with the funky style and the rad hair cuts. I work with the kids who study hard and pay very close attention in class, and the ones who can slide a little and who read books when they zip through their worksheets. The kids who are the class clowns and the kids who don’t really fit in any one group. The kid who must wear the TMNT stuff, and the one who loves to look like her older sister. The one who seems to drag his feet coming in the door every day, and the one who skips lightly over the threshold and practically sings “Good morning” to everyone in her path. I see every kid in their every day school life. Some kids have days that are different every day. Some kids have days that look the same every day. Some kids worry about grades, some worry about friends, some worry about what time recess is. But no matter what kind of day or worry or fun your kid is having, hear this, they are loved!
I know that my kids and your kids and our kids are loved because I know their teacher. Yes, all of their teachers. I know that the teacher who is teaching your kid loves them so much, they spent their personal money to buy an extra special condenser for the science unit. I know that they want to share the love of reading with your kid and my kid and our kids because they went out and ordered an amazing book and planned an entire unit around it just for our kids. They paid for all of it with their own personal money. They looked at every detail and planned some very fun stuff, stuff that your kid and my kid will never forget. Know when the teacher did that planning? After 10 p.m., when her own kids had finished their homework and she had cooked and cleaned and started the laundry, and graded papers and prepared the data for the conference she must attend to be able to prove that she is a good teacher, and she’s not leaving any kids behind. She planned that unit about that book that she thought our kids would love. She carefully read each chapter, she took notes on similarities between the book and our kids, she sent emails to community members who could come and speak to our kids’ class, so that they could connect this wonderful collection of pages with black ink and a firm spine and a brand new book smell to our kids’ real, living, beautiful lives. She did all this in her “off time”.
Years ago, I was living far away on a beach, working for a time share. Email had just become the next big thing, and I was so excited to have the opportunity to write letters back home that my family members with access to a computer could read and reply to within a day! I was thrilled to learn that one of my Aunts was living her dream of being a teacher with tenure. She was really doing all that she had set out to do. And then I learned that her big dream was expensive. She paid for a very good education, she paid a lot of money to get the degree that she wanted to be able to follow her dream. She continues to pay money to give our children an education. My aunt buys her own supplies for her units, she buys food for the animals she is allowed to have in her classroom. Animals she had to fight to keep, because of, you know, politics. She buys extra materials because sometimes kids mess up and need a second set of tweezers or goggles or whatever the deal is that they need. She is paying for her education, and she is paying for their education. And that was 20 years ago. She’s still doing it and so are the other teachers. Especially the teachers that are teaching our kids.
They buy those snacks for our kids when we can’t afford to send them. They buy extra pencils, because sometimes, the 24 pack that we sent in the supply list runs out, and our kids don’t tell us, or they do tell us and we’re so busy running here and there, and when we get to the store, we look at the list but overlook the doggone pencils, which we remember when we’re typing our blog or watching tv or reading a book, you know, at midnight. They buy extra paper, because let’s face it, paper is a necessity, and sometimes our kid’s 80 page, wide ruled, spiral notebook just doesn’t last past the first quarter. And they’ve sent a note home, but we had to put money on the lunch account first, and that didn’t leave much extra for the new paper. They buy extra Kleenex for their room, because do you know how long one box of Kleenex lasts for a kid with a runny nose??? I do. I know that I, myself, the old snot nosed kid, can clear out an entire box of Kleenex in one weekend, given the right amount of pollen, dust or other crazy things floating around in the atmosphere. And that’s the same when I have a cold! So yeah, my kid can surely go through one box of Kleenex in a year. Maybe two or three. And Sanitizer. You know that nectar of protection that comes from the Germ-X bottle? Yeah, we on staff love that stuff. Especially when someone doesn’t make it to the restroom or has an empty box of Kleenex at the wrong time! These teachers buy that extra stuff because they love our kids, because they want them to have what they need. They all buy all that extra stuff, and they do not have a school budget for it. There is no “health supplies, office supplies or other supplies” budget in school. Nope. That comes right out of their personal checking account.
ALL the teachers in the school and ALL the staff in the school love our kids. My kids and your kids and other people’s kids. They love them for many various reasons, but they love them and they want them to love learning, and they want them to have what they need. Sometimes a kid needs breakfast. Sometimes a kid needs a pencil. Sometimes a kid needs ten uninterrupted minutes with the teacher to tell that teacher something that’s been bugging the kid for a while. Sometimes, the kid needs the teacher to be the big, strong, steady example of a male figure in their life. Sometimes, the kid needs to be told no. Sometimes the kid needs to be shown how to do something or play a game or play a sport. Sometimes the kid needs help writing, or carrying a book, or holding a template. Kids need a lot of stuff. Mommas know that. Teachers know that. Guess what? That makes us on the same team! And being on a team with teachers means you are in good hands, and you’re gonna be okay. And our kids are gonna be okay.
Mommas, our kids are alright! They are working and drawing and playing, and laughing and thinking and growing and learning! They are doing all that stuff all day long, and while we may think they cry all day and miss us more than anything or anyone else, they don’t. They don’t have time, because they are living life and learning, and growing, and they are being who they are. The teachers and staff that hang out with them all day really care about them. They are loving and kind. They tie shoes and wipe noses, they help count and write letters, they remind to wash hands and be kind to friends and look both ways before crossing the street. These teachers, who are on our team are loving our babies like we would love them if we were their teachers. These staff members are cherishing our kids like we cherish them.
So, if you’re worry-laugh-thinking… think about ways that we can tell these wonderful people we know. We know what they’re doing and we support them. We know that they are overworked and underpaid, and that they, even though underpaid, still give. We know that they work late into the night and still manage to get up early and be ready with open arms when my kids and your kids and our kids and other people’s kids show up for school. We know they help our kids know when is a good time to talk and when is a good time to stay quiet. They keep our kids safe with their very own lives. They nurture and nourish, they teach, teather and test, they show, tell and send our kids off to soar into their fullest potential. Let’s tell them verbally, with our words of encouragement and gratitude. Let’s tell them physically, with a handshake, or a gift card to the office supply or grocery store. Let’s tell them by bringing in extra snacks, and volunteering to come in once a week and clean or read or do whatever they need. Let’s tell these creatures who sign up to be on our team, to lead our kids, to love our kids… that we, the parents of these little angels, know and see, and appreciate every “little” thing they do that make a big difference in all of our lives!
Momma Rich's 