Sometimes angels walk among us. They first appeared to us as kindergarten teachers after a long road of constant battle. For two years, every parent meeting with her teachers and day care providers had been the same. A retelling of the latest things that happened in class, a list of the undesirable behaviors, and ways we could address them at home. In daycare she infuriated her teachers. After a few months I could feel the resentment ooze from them at each afternoon pickup. " You're going to big kid school next year. You can't act like that there, " they'd say to her. It left her with nightmares and potty regressions. " Mommy, I don't want to be sent away to the big kids. Big kids are scary. Please don't make me go. " Eventually, she was separated from her peers and spent her days with the infants instead. I would pick her up and find her playing teacher to a group of "students" in high chairs. I was always amazed by the compassion an...
An exemplary math teacher becomes a mom and learns that she knows very little about teaching math.