Affirmation

Today was parent/teacher conference day. Each school year at the end of the first grading period there is a day set aside for the teachers to have a conference with each parent who desires one.

This is Madison's second year with Mr. Warner. She will have him again next year as well since the Montessori classroom model combines first, second, and third grade students in one class. Mr. Warner has gotten to know Madison, her full personality, her quirks, her strengths, and her weaknesses. In today's conference he shared with me how her exuberant, excitable personality sometimes interferes with her staying on task, but also said that she is making significant progress, and he sees a big maturity over last year. We discussed areas of improvement and areas that need improvement, but overall she is doing really well in school. Mr. Warner over many occassions (including in today's conference) has also told me how much he truly enjoys having Madison in his class because she brings a lot of joy to the environment.

To me, however, the most important thing I heard from Mr. Warner in this conference was when he told me that it is very obvious that Madison is secure in the love she has from me. He went on to say that whatever I'm doing, I am doing right and to keep it up. He said that you can tell very obviously which kids get the love they need from their parents, and which ones don't, and that he recognizes that Madison is very secure in herself because of the love she gets from me. This was such a huge compliment in my eyes. Too often we hear about kids in "broken homes" (for lack of a better term) who are insecure, act out, become a nuisance, etc. To hear, that Madison is "normal" or even better than this society's "normal" gave me some security in knowing that my failure at marriage doesn't have to affect who she is and will be. She's loved and she knows it. I'm doing my job well in spite of not having a "traditional" family environment to raise her in.