Day 5

Cole just completed his 5th day of 2nd grade and I have already shed tears. This time though they were tears of happiness and relief.

Last year wasn't that great for him. There were tears on both of our parts at various times throughout the year. Some of you have heard the stories, they are too long to repeat. He still loved his teacher and her and I had a great relationship by the end of the year. In fact, she lobbied hard to get me a job at his school, before they installed the dreaded hiring freeze. But overall, not a good year.

On Thursday, I went up to the school and ate lunch with Cole. After lunch they have recess. During recess, I mentioned to his new teacher that he didn't have a great year last year and she was welcome to contact me at anytime if she had any concerns. She said that he'd been great and she could tell he was very bright and participated in class and had a lot to offer.

Friday morning I walked him to class to help him carry some donations for the Art teacher. His teacher saw me and said, "Can I speak to you for a moment?" Ahhhh...those words I dreaded to hear. We went to a quiet corner of the room and she said she had thought about what I said about him not having a great year, all night long. She couldn't get over it. She stressed how important it was at kids of this age to love school and wanted to put my anxiety at rest. She went on and on about Cole's strengths and how well spoken and learned he is. About how she can tell he has had a lot of life experiences and can relate that to class discussions. She addressed how, yes he does move around in his seat, but how that is so normal for his age and how she can continue to address this positively in class. She said that even when he doesn't appear to be paying attention, he is and can restate almost verbatim what she said. She continued to say lots of positive things about him. Of course, me being me, I got teary eyed. I explained how that I would do anything to support him and her.

I just feel so good about this year. We have worked hard together all summer and his confidence about school has improved. She seems to have a great relationship him already and I look forward to working with her too.

In other news: I start my 5 week sub job tomorrow. Yipee! The teacher is very sweet and has given me free reign. She said just to pretend that it is my class and that is what I intend to do! Wish me luck.