Whatever I did bad, good for me!
The last few weeks of school were exhausting and rotten. All my crazy parents drank their crazy juice at the same time. In one difficult case, we sent reports ahead of time, invited the current and future teachers, had been carefully transitioning the child for three months. In the last week of school meeting, the parent suddenly announced, without ever mentioning it before, that she wanted to retain her child. Good test scores, teacher recommendations, peer comparisons, progress on every single goal, and common sense could not dissuade her. Sorry, little dude, I was apparently prepping the wrong party for first grade!
One of the other perplexing parents was upset by something that happened. Neither I nor the other teachers could figure out what she wanted, or even what exactly had set her off. We suspect it may be the fact that her husband has been having an affair for 18 months- can't say I blame him. Finally, she demanded that someone from the district office handle her case from now on. I am allowed to do therapy with the kids but that is it. She will not be satisfied until someone else handles her dozens of emotional, irrational, angry emails and phone calls. I think she intended to punish me for not letting her have her self-centered way, but it was a great reward! Off the case! Whatever I did that was so appalling, I wish I had done it sooner!
I don't know why I had such a hard time with the end of this year. Difficult parents are nothing new. I was just tired and frustrated, although I have supportive administration, kind coworkers, and refused to lose sleep over the mounds of paperwork. I didn't even have to pack either of my rooms. I am embarrassed to admit that I just picked up piles of papers that needed to be sorted and filed, put them in a cabinet, and walked away.
Still, there were some bright spots. One of the girls I have been encouraging through the year as I talked her parent down from a crazy ledge, has shown good progress. She hardly stutters at all and has been ready for dismissal for quite a while. On the last day of school, she came up to me in her shy way and said, “My mom says to tell you thank you.” She followed up the mandatory message with one of her own: “Thanks from me, too. I feel ready for 6th grade.” Thank you, Lilian. You made my day.
Another warm fuzzy came, as it often does, from looking outside myself. Janelle and I took the time to write sincere and specific thank you notes to almost the entire staff. We attached a chocolate and a pencil, but the sweetest part was appreciating the good that often goes unnoticed. A few people thanked me later, and their genuine smiles make it seem worthwhile. Every once in a while, we remember why we do what we do.
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