Dear Teacher,
As you head back to school, I see you so fresh and eager, and I am so thankful for your energy. Your profession is noble and worthy, and you are fit to fill the role beautifully. I would so love to be everything to my children, but I know that I am better when I am mom, and you are the teacher.
I’m entrusting my children to you for most of their waking hours, which is some ways is hard, and in other ways exciting. I want my kids to gain perspective from many people, and I am grateful for your willingness to extend yours to them. By virtue of their name landing on your class list, we have become part of the same village, and that’s exciting! We will make a great team and accomplish much together.
I hope that my children show you their best, the most wonderful sides. I hope you treasure them as I do, and by the end of the year they have earned a place in your heart and you consider them “yours”. I pray, as I do every year when school starts, that you aspire to be one of those teachers. The ones that my children will look back on fondly, many years from now, and remember how impactful you were. We all have those teachers that we remember for the rest of our lives, the ones we give silent credit to for how we turned out, whose names will always make us smile. Teachers are powerful, and I hope you use your power intentionally and well.
I know you will have work days that start long before sunrise and end long after sunset, and drain you, and leave you to face the next one with your tank empty. I know that you will wind up paying for classroom supplies out of your own stretched budget. I know that there will be incidents that will make you weep. I hope that those times will be balanced by unprecedented successes, generosity, and joy.
At some point this year my child will push you to your last nerve, they certainly do mine. I hope you can maintain your sense of humor and resilience, please know that I’m here for you if you need to talk or text or brainstorm or troubleshoot about it. And if all else fails I’ll send in chocolate.
Dear teacher, please accept my gratitude in advance, I plan to express it continuously and frequently. You are valued, you are appreciated, we need you.
With Fond Regards,
Your Student’s Parents
Follow Alethea at Ben’s Writing, Running Mom.
