That's My Baby

Our district had a back to school Open House, or "meet the teacher night" a few days ago. Between appointments to meet my own awesome classroom kiddos, I got to sneak down to my daughter's rooms to watch them meet their teachers and check out their rooms for the year. It's always a neat experience, and one where excitement and anticipation fill the air.

Today as I looked through some paper work we had brought home, I filled out a parent survey one of my girls' sweet teachers sent home. One of the questions was "Describe your child in 3 words" or something like that. While that should have been an easy task, it took me forever to figure out what I wanted to write down. 

Maybe part of the problem was I had a lot of words to choose from. After all, 3 words really isn't that many. However, I think that the bigger problem was, no matter what other words I thought of to put down, what I *really, really* wanted to write was "She's. My. Baby."

My oldest will be in second grade. She is not a baby. She is a huge helper, she is fiercely independent, she is strong, she is fiery, and she would NOT have appreciated me writing down that she is my baby. BUT oh my goodness - that IS what I want her teacher to know. It's probably what I will always want her teachers to know.

She's my baby. So is her sister. They have their ups and downs. They have great moments that stand out and hard moments that we work through daily. Sometimes they are awesomely kind and strong leaders for all the positive things, and sometimes they need redirection and a moment away to restart. But ALL the time they are my babies. The very best of me that I have to share - the ones I am pouring into, praying for and about, and working with towards all things good for their futures. And at the end of the day, what I really want from their teachers is to take care of them. Take care of my baby.

Oh, I'll tell her all day long that she is big. That "It's your job to ______". I'll remind her that she needs to be responsible. That she better follow directions and be kind. That she needs to be helper and a listener and a doer, and that she needs to put in to things if she hopes to get anything out of them .... but what I'm telling YOU is that she's my baby and she needs to be taken care of and loved on. And the rest? All those academics? I know they'll come with the love.

There is absolutely NOTHING  - no professional development, no advice, etc - that has ever impacted my teaching as much as being a parent to my own kiddos, and a lover of my friends kiddos, has. Because as I think about this feeling of sending my baby to someone else for so many hours a day, I'm reminded that all of the kiddos in my classes are someone's baby, too. 

Oh, my classes are made up of 4th graders. They are strong, and independent, and probably fiery - and they would likely roll their eyes if their parents had said to me at open house "this is my baby, please take care of him". So, instead, their parents said things to me like "Let me know if you need anything", and "Every now and then she struggles with _____" , or "Sometimes he needs _____". And every time a parent said "Please do not hesitate to email or call or text if you need something." what I know they were hoping I'd hear was "This is my baby. Please take care of them."

No matter how big our kids get - I'm talking even high school - I'm fairly certain this urge to remind people that these are our babies doesn't go away. We want someone to look out for them. To protect them a little. Proactively remind them of the right thing every now and then. Even to "light a fire" under them when needed ... but gently. Because what we really want as parents is to be absolutely certain that the people we are entrusting our kiddos to for so many hours a day are truly backing our kids and looking out for them in all the ways. We want them to take care of our babies.

So here's to a year of academic growth. Of sharing reading joy and inspiring writers. But first and foremost, here's to a year of loving on these awesome kids - that are someones absolute pride and joy - and helping them move forward with confidence and the most comfortable footing possible to stand on. Because every single student is the very best kiddo their parents have to send to school - and every single student is someone's baby that they just want to see thrive.