Mastering the Life Curriculum

I am a mean mom.

Not only do I expect my kids to excel in school, I also expect them to excel in life.

A tall order for my 10 year old. Who apparently has been having a rough time for weeks, according to his teacher in a phone call yesterday.

"Weeks?" I asked, dumbfounded. She let behaviors go on for WEEKS?

"We're having a team meeting tomorrow," she continued.

"What time?" I cut in. "I'll be there."

"Um." She clearly wasn't expecting that. "You work, right?"

I smothered an exasperated sigh. "I do, but Nic's my first and most important priority. And if it's a team meeting, well, I'm part of the team and I need to be there. Right?"

She paused.

"RIGHT?" I re-iterated, trying not to shout. I was outside, on my cell phone, pacing like an animal outside the offices. "I mean, team meetings include everyone."

"Um, well, okay. It's at 8:30."

Of course she didn't tell me where, so I got there a little late. The long and the short of it is that I had quite a bit of information that was useful to them. And they had a lot of information that was useful to me. There was disagreement, but we kept it real and respectful. And got a lot done.

At the end, I turned to the teacher and said, "Now aren't you glad I was here?"

She agreed, but couldn't resist adding, "But I thought since you worked...."

My sherpa called me while I drove enroute to the office. "Don't people know that what they do as a job won't matter in 50 years?" I asked her. "Meanwhile, the proof of what you were as a parent lives on for generations."

Former teacher she, remarked, "People don't get it."

It makes me think I mastered something in the life curriculum that I wasn't quite expecting to master. My kids are my best teachers.