Dear Kindergarten Teacher of My Youngest,
I said I never wanted to be one of “those” moms, but here I am! My baby (yes, baby) is coming to your classroom and I need you to hear me out. Hopefully you don’t have an entire class of “those” moms, because if you do, that means this will be one of the 25 emails you receive before school even begins. Prioritize mine, though, will you?
I have a list of things I want you to know.
Important things.
Make or break the year things.
So, don’t go skipping anything on this list, okay?
We barely survived the summer with our kids, so how you manage an entire classroom of young ones is beyond me! You’re a hero already. And the fact that you’re taking our child for ten months (in a row!) makes this a love-at-first-sight scenario.
If you need something for your classroom, can you please oh please just tell us? Send us an email. Ask us at pick-up. We don’t expect you to pay for all of the materials - especially when we know so many of you are paying off debt of some kind. Let us contribute where we can.
There will be days you’ll run out of patience. There will be days you raise your voice in frustration. But when our child comes home from school saying you’re a monster, we’ll be on TEAM TEACHER without question. We won’t arrive at school the next day to interrogate you. Instead, know that we’ve talked with our daughter about how to be her best self and how to set a good example to others in the class. You’re human and bad days are totally allowed.
If you need a mental health day, please take one. There’s no need to feel guilty or apologize. The kids will survive. Life will go on. And when you return, you will be greeted with running hugs and a couple of love letters from all the kids that look up to you.
Lastly, I know there’s a hefty curriculum to get through - sight words and math concepts and fine motor skills, etc. However, these things pale in comparison to what the world needs most right now. I hope I’m not alone when I tell you that nothing is as important as raising kind kids. If all you taught her this year was to be kind, that would be more than enough.
My apologies for being one of “those” moms.
But, I couldn’t let my baby (yes, baby!) go to your classroom without you knowing these things first.
In partnership,
That Mom
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