Spilly is getting a little award in her school assembly tomorrow. It's for "showing responsibility." She doesn't know. Her teacher sent us a note home last week telling us about it, inviting us, and asking us not to tell her.
It's funny--I've been giving out awards like these for years. And I've always enjoyed seeing parents get sentimental about them, had fun watching them tape the whole thing for posterity. But I don't think I've ever really understood how they felt. I would give anything to be able to be there tomorrow. I know I'd get all mushy and teary, seeing my own little crazy one walk up to the front of the student body and be given a certificate that represents something I love to think she possesses in her own four-year-old way.
I've gone back and forth in my mind about ditching school for the day so I could be there. I almost called in sick this evening. But, ironically enough, I have to give out my own certificates tomorrow. Mine are for "showing care for your school environment." They're being given to kids who haven't had a lot of experience at getting certificates, kids who have never found school easy but are amazing citizens of the classroom. Their parents were given cards earlier in the week, inviting them. I have no doubt they'll be sitting in the audience tomorrow, getting all mushy and teary, proud of their own babies.
Sometimes as a teacher-parent, it's a very tough call. There are no first-day-of-school rituals with your own one, because you're providing part of that ritual for other people's little ones. You have to miss assemblies. On the other hand, you have a unique perspective on the experiences your child will have in her classroom. Maybe you're uniquely ready to provide a sympathetic ear, the right kind of inspiration when needed. And maybe that's a kind of compensation.
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