If you know, you know…..how it is to grow up with mom who’s a teacher. My husband’s mom was a teacher. He loved that about her. “I always had the best dioramas because we had all these great materials at home to build with. And at Christmas we had our fancy tree and then another not-fancy tree just for all the ornaments she had collected from her students over the years.” He swears she still has a box of pasta noodle necklaces from 1983 stashed in her garage.

In my last year as an elementary teacher, I had my oldest son for writing and science. It was a love/hate relationship for him. A VIP pass to my hidden after school snack drawer juxtaposed against his total and utter mortification. We both survived.

The kids with teacher moms are used to waiting through the small talk at sports games, grocery stores and restaurants. They know what it’s like to live with a celebrity. They know that August is the Sunday of summer and that they can’t get away with not doing their reading or math facts. They know that other teachers are watching, always.

I only got to meet you for a short time to take your picture and learn about your ways. You have her blue eyes and gentle gestures. You were patient while we chattered on about the inner workings of how long it takes to teach 20+ kids to successfully stand in a hallway line. I’ll bet it doesn’t always feel this way, especially when you are approaching independence, but your mom is one of the good ones. Actually she’s one of the GREAT ones. She’s loved a lot of little hearts for a long time and I’m sure sharing her has been hard at times. You should know that her students are her world. But more than that, you should know that HER kids - that means you - are her whole entire universe.