Yesterday, I played "4 things I should know about you" with my freshman class. I asked them to tell me 4 things that I should know about them and then I tell them 4 things about me. I play this game with my students all the time and the first three things that I tell them about me often change. But the 4th thing is always the same. And I tell them so that they know where I stand and how I feel about my role in their life. I can't take credit for phrasing it the way I do; I stole the idea from my sister KO. But it very powerfully expresses how I feel and I hope that this lesson is not lost on the students.
The 4th thing that they learn about me is that I have a son, a 6 year old named JT, for whom my sun rises and sets each day. I tell the class that to me he is the most perfect being, my proudest accomplishment, and the person I love best in this world. I say that during the year I will I tell the class stories about him and sometimes laugh at him but that always, always I know that I will be his mama and I will stand by his side no matter what. For me, JT will forever be the boy who hung the moon.
The class always smiles when I say this; some of them even peg me for a soft-hearted sentimental fool. But then I tell them that when they frustrate and annoy me, when they really piss me off (and most of them will, at some point or another) I will remember that there are people in their world who feel about them as I feel about JT. One night, a long time ago or maybe just yesterday, a parent looked at them and thought: you are perfect and I will love you forever. And when I realize this, how very much they are loved by someone else, I will set aside my frustration and give them another chance.
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