Because I Said So

Pushy Parents

by Danielle Wood

Today is D-day. At 4 pm, my son's school will post the teachers for this upcoming year, and I'll know what kindergarten holds for my kid. The posting's timing, at 4 pm on Thursday, just two days before school officially starts, is calculated, no doubt about it. It's just enough time to get your kid adjusted to the sound of his teacher's name on your tongue, but not enough time to do any stealth lobbying to change who he's got.

This is probably a blessing in disguise. The "perfect" teacher is a slippery thing. Sure, you can ask other parents until your phone ear turns blue. But what I've found, although I'm loath to admit it, is that almost every time I've lobbied for a certain teacher, and stressed out over another, based on other parents' opinions, I've been completely wrong about what my kid needed.

In preschool, this didn't really matter-- each class had two teachers. So even though I was thrilled each time with one of the two he'd been assigned, and dubious about the other, it all worked out in the end. The "strict, overbearing one" turned out to be the perfect energy level for my kid his first year of school, while the "mellow, kind one" was a bust; the "experienced one" was a bore, but the "first year teacher who replaced someone great" was a godsend. In short, sometimes what we think our kids need, isn't really what they're hankering for, and sometimes the underdogs surprise us.

Not that I'd know who to lobby for anyway, even if I was feeling pushy... It's a new school and I'll be starting from Square One. I'm starting to have those flashbacks to my own elementary school days, only instead of dreaming about missing the bus or having no one to sit with in the cafeteria, I'm having jitters once-removed. Luckily, my son seems completely oblivious to his mom's imminent mental breakdown.