Day 79 Wizard or Witch, Oh My!

For the last few days, I had been anticipating this morning, the morning I meet my son's teacher. Will she have the personality of Glinda the Good Witch or will I need a bucket of water by the end of the year?

Weeks ago, I emailed my son's teacher to arrange a call to simply give her a little information about my son, sort of a little heads up. Not that I consider my son to be anywhere near as warning worthy as a house falling from the sky, but a little "hey, look out for..." is not a bad idea. But, between her vacation, my vacation, and that Tornado Hurricane Irene wiping out the power and internet in my area, we kept missing each other. Finally, I got an email offering for me to come in and meet her personally before school (oh, I like that!).

As I walked into the school, I stopped into the office to let them know I was there. Let me be clear about this. I don't care for the office. For three years I've always been nice, and I always got the cold shoulder. I don't think it's personal, but the head office honcho doesn't try very hard to make you feel welcomed. You know that scene where Dorothy and crew are trying to get in to see the Wizard, and the guard slams the door window on them?

Yep, I feel like that's going to happen to me every time I go into that room. Well, I did, until one day last year, I marched into that office after my son left his class crying yet again, and requested sternly but politely that I would see the principal now. Since then, they seem to pay attention to me. I guess somewhere along the way, I picked up that Badge of Courage and used it.

Once I got past the office gates, so to speak, I found my way to the teacher's room. As I walked in, I felt like asking "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" Gratefully, I left with the sincere feeling that she could be our Wizard instead. She could be the one that gives him the Badge of Self-Esteem, and give him the power to "click his sneakers" to be stress free.

The big difference between the Wizard and my new team mate, is that she was not hiding behind some curtain or afraid to do what was needed. She was upfront about how we could work together, about what she expected, how she would handle situations, but above all she listened to me! I discussed modifying homework so it wouldn't take over two hours like it did last night, and she had no problem with that. Well, I've heard that before, only find out that my son was still being told to complete the work the next day. But this was different. I smiled from ear to ear when I saw that not only was she okay with the adjustments, she made the adjustment for me today.

Amazing!

We might have someone who will really help out this year. Someone who won't push my thoughts aside.   This teacher's got brains, heart, courage and my early approval! There's a long road ahead of us, but with the right support, we will all be smiling!