Today, I passed another parenting milestone; my first parent-teacher conference. Yes, H is only in pre-school, but you'd be surprised how nerve-wracking it was! I walked in armed with a list of H's positive attributes just in case they weren't able to discern from their bi-weekly interactions with him that he's perfect! Yes, yes, I know that I've intimated he may be less than, but that's my prerogative as his mother.I've been told by the pediatrician, the social worker at the pediatrician's office who gave me a 'courtesy call' after I broke down in tears over my apparent inadequacies and then today by H's preschool teacher that I'm 'really hard' on myself. Um, yeah. Isn't everybody? Maybe I'm just less afraid of letting my freak flag fly.
So, after I dabbed my leaking eye sockets with a tissue, H's teacher realized that a lot of the statements in his evaluation were phrased kind of negatively. She took some time to talk about his positive attributes which, really, is what every parent wants. A list of things to work on is great, but everyone needs to know that at the end of the day, their child has more positives than negatives, and that you're doing a great job. Or, at least, the very best you can in this given time and place.
(Recognize that little cherub? Yep, it's Junior from Problem Child.)
5 comments:
oh wow. you are doing such an amazing job!! look at you--managing two little boys who are full of energy, all while your husband is gone. YOU ARE FREAKING AMAZING, WOMAN. also, we have our first parent-teacher conference at zoey's preschool in a couple weeks...and you're right, it's totally nerve wracking. hang in there!!
You're too kind, Amy.
I was laughing so hard as soon as I saw the picture and realized what you were posting about. Haha. Can you imagine having a parent-teacher conference about Junior?
I forgot to mention, I can't wait for H to start school and for you to realize that he is going to be just fine and well-adjusted. He's just a boy, not ADD. I think as soon as you see his classroom dynamics you will realize he is typical for his age behavior wise.
I think every mom has those feelings. I've definitely felt the same way at conferences and gone home wondering if I said the right thing, am I coming across as a "helicopter parent," have I damaged little j for life because I let her watch tv? I don't think women talk about those feelings enough, so I really appreciate your post!
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