I am a 38yo wife, mother, friend & sister. I have been married for 17 years, and I have two children: Music (formerly Karate Kid) my 14yo son, and Drama Queen, my 12yo daughter.
A memory popped into my head the other day, unrelated to anything I was doing. When Karate Kid was preschool age, he went to a "Kindgergarten Prep" class at the Mother's Day Out at our church. It was for all of the kids who had missed the birthday cut-off for that year. His teacher was a former kindgergarten teacher. The lady was past retirement age...and the age of teaching, in my opinion. She was a little gruff and a little too grumpy to be working with kids all day. K.K. was/is such a smart boy that I wasn't worried about school at all. Until his teacher began making comments when I would go pick him up.
At first she complained about how slowly he ate. Day after day she would inform me, with that "are you ever going to do something about this?" look on her face, "Karate Kid was the last one finished eating today. Again!" Looking back, I wish I had handled things much differently. I was the first-time mom of a preschooler. Everything this teacher said was taken as gospel. I talked to K.K. and encouraged him to eat faster. We had the same conversation over and over again. I was thrilled the day I picked him up and wasn't informed that my child was the slowest eating child in the class.
Now I look back and just boil about it. Who the &*@! cares if he was the last one done eating? Someone has to be last. And slower eaters generally don't have problems with being overweight because they give their bodies time to realize when it's had enough.
Once we crossed the hurdle of slow eating, she met me at the door one day and told me that my son was a perfectionist (no news there) and that he would not do well in public school at all. She said that her daughter was the same way and had struggled all the way through school. I was devestated. I contemplated homeschooling for a very brief period of time. I knew that it wasn't possible for me to homeschool, so I waited with her words playing in the back of my mind until he was well-established in kindergarten.
At the Christmas break, that teacher moved and a new one took her place. It was a complete turn around. I only heard praise and encouragement from this teacher. Karate Kid loved his class and did very well in everything they did. And once K.K. did start public school, he did great. He just finished 5th grade and made straight A's every year.
I get so worked up when I think about that teacher! I don't even know why I blogged about it other than maybe to give hope to someone else who may read this and have a similar situation. Follow your instincts. You are your child's parent. You know your "baby" better than anyone. Don't let anyone else plant ideas in your head and make you worry.
And now I will take my soapbox and leave.
Posted @
3:17 PM ~
1 comments
