The Raft

I spent the morning in Abby's classroom today. It is one of the simplest pleasures of being mommy. Abby was over the moon excited that I was going to walk with her into her classroom and stay the whole time to "help".
{I did help - I put together a project for tomorrow and took down a whole season's worth of artwork on the big bulletin board! It was nice to be a help. But that Abby was setting me up for it was the best part.}
I haven't been in to volunteer since Christmastime. I can't bring Wyatt and finding a sitter for a weekday morning is near impossible. Now that Stina is done with school I can squeeze in a couple of mornings before the school year ends and that's cool.
I haven't publicly adored her teachers enough. I try to tell them, acknowledge them, thank them but I haven't done so publicly. Mostly because I don't really know if it's ok to talk about them (names, pictures) in a public domain like this. But today I brought my camera into the classroom and was given full permission to shoot pictures, informed "we've all signed the release form" so I feel fine about it now.
Abby absolutely adores her teachers. Her Pre-K teacher is "Mrs. M". She is polite and kind and warm without being that high-pitched, overly-touchy-feely sort of preschool teacher that makes you wonder about their actual credentials.
I don't mind admitting that her professionalism sometimes makes me feel like a boar. I tend to over-do and over-say things at times (no, really!) and she seems to remain calm and collected at all times. People that stay that rational make me nervous.
This is about the kid, though, so let me go on.

She misses Mrs. M by Sunday night.
She teaches Wyatt how to share, how to read and how to use his "inside voice" by quoting Mrs. M and showing him what Mrs. M shows her.
She clearly loves and respects her teacher.
And she can draw people with head, arms, body, legs and faces; she can write her name as well as a few other words and most of her letters; she can count to 30; she knows all of her shapes; she knows the days of the week, the month we're in, the date and the seasons. I did not teach her most of that. And as much as I encourage her to go watch Nick Jr. while I play on Facebook & this Blog ("it's like preschool on tv!") I know that Moose E Moose did not teach her how to write.

What she's learned from and because of Mrs. M is so much more than what I could describe here. It is not only curriculum. It is emotional, physical, mental and so, so special.
She has done amazingly well in school this year and I am eternally grateful to Mrs. M for that.

In addition to Mrs. M, the Para-Professional in the classroom is "Mrs. C". If I try to explain to you what her actual duties are in the classroom I will minimalize it. (I just realized that "minimalize" is not an actual word but too bad.)
But she basically keeps the ship moving while Mrs. M directs the course. She is the second set of eyes and ears and HANDS! that are so necessary when dealing with twelve 4-year-olds.
She does not have a teaching degree but she has her BA and she has kids in the school system. She stayed home until both kids were in school all day and now she works in that same school. She's great.
When Abby needs a band-aid she'll tell me to put it on "as soft as the air, like Mrs. C". She tells me that Mrs. C goes to the beach and Mrs. C has kids, too. She wants to go play at Mrs. C's house and have a playdate with her kids.
She loves to hug her, loves to tell stories about her (even if they are completely fictional), draws pictures for her and clearly thrives by the balance she and Mrs. M give her in that classroom 4 mornings a week.

I have come to appreciate these two women more than I think I can express to them. For me to let my baby girl go each day that I do, if I didn't know that she was absolutely in wonderful hands, I wouldn't do it.
She loves her school, loves her teachers, loves her "little friends" - and that is made possible by those two fabulous women.

I am so blessed and humbled for their effort and hard work and huge hearts.
Our whole family is.