I got a terrifying form from my kid’s teacher at the
beginning of the year. I’ve gotten it
before and the PTSD made me forget it.
So I was horrified anew. It
depressed me and made me feel bad about myself. It made me inform my child’s
teacher that I was a giant loser. And it
looked so innocent to start….
One warm, autumn day, #3 brings home a package from the
teacher. Some nice notes about the
teacher looking forward to a great
year. A sheet asking for more
information about my child. (How to boil
down hopes, dreams and fears into a few lines?!?) And one asking for
information about the family. All
innocent questions. Until – Do you have any
special talents you can share with our class? [Insert scary music]
Me? Special talents?
I am excellent at surfing the web.
I listen to music. I can vacuum
WHILE listening to music. I am really
good at chewing my food and rarely choke. (Yes, that implies that sometimes I do. Having to eat and breathe at the same
time? Hard. But I can walk and chew gum, so there!) I almost never forget where
I put my kids. I know the things I am
bad at but forcing me to face the dearth of things I am good at? Well, that was uncalled for.
It really stressed me out! What am I good at?! I’m a hausfrau but not fabulous at it. I’m a mom but I am far from an uber mom. Oh, my God!
I suck! Thankfully, I ran into
some other moms the next day and shared my tale of woe with them. They are both professional, accomplished
women. I joked about the letter I had
received and tried not to whine. One of
them said, “I can teach the class to put on makeup. That’s about it.”
Ahhh, I felt so much better. This talented woman was in the same boat as
me! I realized that there will be super parents who go in and orchestrate some fabulous project making like musical instruments out of sugar. But, there will also be talented parents who
can’t think of anything. And the best
part was when I told my daughter, “Honey, I can’t think of any special talents
that I can share with your class. “ I took a breath- ready to launch into an
explanation of some special talents that are unseen and like being a good
friend…blah…blah…blah. Or to explain the
teacher wouldn’t like it if I tried to burp the Pledge of Allegiance…. But,
before I could start the speech, she cut me off, “That’s ok, Mommy. I don’t care.”
Maybe my special talent is teaching my kids that I am
imperfect. I allow them to see my flaws
and joke about them hoping that they will be lighthearted about their own
shortcomings someday. They aren’t
perfect either and that’s ok. We are
perfect for each other.
P.S. Wasn’t that sweet? Still leaves me with nothing to share with a
bunch of 4th graders... At least, nothing a teacher would like but I bet the burping would’ve been a BIG hit…
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