I don't rejoice when the school year begins and groan when it ends. I really do enjoy my kids and enjoy being a mom, as messy and hectic as it can all be at times! I also never thought that George would be my last baby, but God has some different ideas than I do about these things, so the struggle to send him off to school was greater than I imagined it would be. And the therapy for the struggle kept coming to me in the form of words dancing in my head. I am really not a poet, or even a huge fan of poetry. (Though I will give a shout out to Shel Silverstein poet and author of one of our favorite songs, A Boy Named Sue. Oh how I loved checking out those black and white books from the library as a kid.)
Anyway, this is what came out of those words dancing in my head........
Meet the Teacher
By Katy McClaskey
This little boy who holds my hand,
I kiss him every night.
Then I thank God and tell the boy
“You are my heart’s delight.”
I try to make light of things
Making sure he doesn’t know
Just how much it breaks my heart
To simply let him go.
So as I give him to you
I will give you a few hints
So you can get to know him
And your time will be well spent.
If you want to reach him,
Talk with him of sports.
He’ll tell you facts you do not know
And statistics of all sorts!
He might get quite frustrated
When trying things of new,
He wants to know how NOW,
His best he strives to do.
Patiently encourage him,
Help keep his head so cool.
The two of you should get along
And make easy work of school.
I don’t expect that he’ll be bad,
He shouldn’t give much trouble,
But if he does, steer him straight
And call me on the
double!
As time goes on I think you’ll see
Just why I think he’s great
Long eyelashes, sweet blue eyes
And charm will seal
your fate.
I am glad that you are on my team
The gifts you’ll share and bring
To help groom a sweet young child
Bound for greater things.
Now, one more hug and I must go
The tears have won this fight.
This little boy who you now teach,
Remember, HE is my heart’s
delight.
-----------------
As I wrote it, I began to realize I still feel this way about my daughter every year. Her traits are a little different, but the underlying sentiment is the same. And when I had this realization, I decided I should share it with our school staff. I am one of those people that fears public speaking- a lot. I much prefer writing, but I also knew that there had to be a voice behind these words and Maya Anjelou was not available on such short notice, so I decided to read it. I did get a little choked up, but miraculously did not turn into a snot dripping puddle of a person! I am certain all the tears transformed themselves into sweat running down my back. But it was well received by these wonderful people, many of who came and hugged my sweaty self, so I decided to put it here on the Rainbow. Maybe someday my George will read this and forgive me for the fact that I never completed his baby scrapbook!
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