Parenting-the world’s most important job

Every day when my students come into my class, I make the effort(sometimes a lot) to smile, greet them and ask them how they are in French. Now, you know as well as I do that I don’t always feel like being perky and friendly! However, I know that it is truly vital that I make a connection with them to teach them what I need to. So, I try to get them to open up and I share with them, within reason, who I am. I act out verbs to get them to laugh, I find out what they like and are interested in and refer to it whenever I can in conversation.I think it is why I am so FOND of so many of my students and they still come back to visit me years after they graduate. Anyway, a couple of days ago, I inquired of a student who came in how he was and he replied,”I’m fine, but E…isn’t.” So, when E… came in, I asked him, “Ca va?” to which he responded with a grimace and then, in a wobbly voice, “My parents are both being shipped to Iraq in a couple of weeks.” That literally stopped me in my tracks; I didn’t know what to say except that if he needed anything to PLEASE let me know, I would be there for him,etc…Then today, I had coffee with a friend whose 18 year old son is struggling emotionally right now; she informed me that part of it is that his dad(from whom she’s divorced for VERY good reason) hasn’t called him for months. She is helpless to fix that problem, just as I am powerless to keep E…’s parents from going to Iraq. That got me thinking about a fellow blogger who was enjoying her daughter’s first friend sleep-over and how IMPORTANT we, as parents, are to our children. (whether they show it or not!) I would like to publicly thank my husband who did not grow up with a father, but is always there for his daughters. We find out when the concerts, the gymnastics meets, ballet recitals, art shows and other activities are and there is never any question…he will be there. To all you parents out there playing, working with and loving your children, you may feel unappreciated some or a lot of the time, but we do make such a huge and positive difference in our children’s lives!