At some point in adolescence, unless you were homeschooled, you experienced the sheer agony of wishing for a specific homeroom teacher. Homeroom itself might only have been 20 minutes but it felt like a free period, time to hang with friends or a cool teacher—and make jokes when the announcements were read.

I remember staring at my class schedule sophomore year as waves of emotion swept through me. First stage: Anticipation. Second stage: Understanding. Third stage: Acceptance. I didn’t get the homeroom teacher I wanted.

My daughter experienced the homeroom phenomenon this year. She’s entering the third grade and she didn’t get the homeroom teacher she hoped for.

“So, how was your first week of school?” I asked, keeping my tone cheerful. I was already planning what to say to soothe her disappointment.

She adjusted her star shaped sunglasses and pulled on the brim of her hat (it was spirit day at school). “Great! You know Eddie from Stranger Things?”

Eddie is one of the greatest underdogs of all time—and a Dungeon Master. But, I wasn’t going to clue my eight-year-old in about that.

“The song he plays…” she continued.

“Do you mean, "Master of Puppets," by Metallica?” I asked, curious and a little alarmed.

Her shoulders straightened, “Yeah, that song! Did you know they're from the Bay Area? We listened to them in class today. It's my teacher's favorite band.”

We had just exited the school and I wanted to rush back in to speak with the teacher. I knew there was no profanity in Master of Puppets but what if the teacher played other Metallica songs? Would my daughter become a metalhead?

I’ve seen hilarious videos of elementary school children listening to Metallica for the first time. Some are confused. Others start headbanging the air in time with the music. A few point out that the music is loud or that they can’t understand the words of the song. In other words, their reaction is no different than anyone else catching Metallica for the first time.

At home after dinner, my daughter asked my husband and I to play Master of Puppets for her. We did. She loved it—and we loved seeing her enjoy herself.

Advice to her teacher: Rock on with your bad self.