Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Loss of Control

I hate that my child is no longer at my school. (By my school I mean the school that I teach at.)


I am so used to knowing everything that happens, everything that goes on, exactly how we do things, etc., etc., etc.


It is frustrating to not know exactly how a teacher wants something done. I don't want to tell my daughter to do things my way because what if, according to the new teacher, it isn't right??


I miss the days of popping my head into her classroom after school to make sure everything is going okay. I miss knowing exactly how each and every part of her day is going to go.


The reason I knew all of this stuff over the last several years is that I have been at my school for ten years. I know how things are done. I have worked with all of her previous teachers for at least a year or two before she was in their class. We have a fairly small campus and we are, for the most part, a close knit group.


Don't get me wrong; I am a respectful parent. I make sure that my child does things the way her teacher wants her to because I know that I want things done my way. (I usually have a good reason to want something a certain way and I know her teachers do too.)


Tonight I sent two e-mails to different teachers asking for clarification. One to her reading teacher about a question I had about a TAKS style reading passage and one to her social studies teacher about a project that Meagan says is due Friday. I hope that these teachers do not see me as a "helicopter parent" now.

I am just mourning the loss of my little girl. She is on her way to becoming a grown up and moving on to middle school is making this fact more evident each and every day.


Someone tell me that this is normal and that, given enough time, I'll get used to it.


I have learned a very valuable lesson from this though. It has made me have so much more sympathy for the parent who sends me a note or comes to my door or who calls me on the phone and wants to talk about their child!

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