Recently I was sitting in a serious, important meeting and someone messed up a famous quote. They said, “It takes a village to raise an idiot.” Even as I type that, I get the giggles because misquotes just tickle my funny bone! (I guess that’s one reason why my husband and I get along so well. He’s a wealth of misquoted movie lines and love them all.) The real quote is, “It takes a village to raise a child.” And I really think this is true.
For example, I came home from our first day of school and spent some time decompressing on Facebook. I sat there reading posts from my Momma friends who were sending their kids off to their first day of school. They posted pictures of their precious off spring in clean uniforms and new backpacks. They made a variety of comments about their emotions ranging from proud to sobbing to stunned disbelief that their child could be this old.
It all made me ponder how much work happens on both sides of the school room door to prepare a kid for this first day of school. Parents have spent weeks stocking up on school supplies, labeling crayon boxes and lunch boxes, wrapping up summer plans with a final day at the State Fair, switching out summer closets for fall wardrobes, visiting school open houses and meeting teachers, etc. All to prepare their child for their first day of school.
On the other side of the door, teachers have been hard at work for weeks already! They have been working on lesson plans, browsing Teachers-Pay-Teachers and Scholastic.com for ideas, decorating their rooms, labeling desks and lockers with cute owl name cards, twisting their brains around impossible schedules to make sure they fit in all the required curriculum, taking work home with them over the weekends, etc. All to prepare to receive your child in their classroom.
Parents naturally think of praying for their kids. But add in an extra prayer for their teachers too. They have already been hard at work for your kids. They are investing their lives in your children. Ask God to make it a worthy investment. Especially if your child’s teacher in not a Believer, pray for your teachers. Ask God to show you how to bless your child’s teacher. Shine God’s light into their lives in exchange for the hours and hours that he or she will be pouring into your child’s life.
And BTW, I’m still not really blogging. I’m still taking a break… OK, I’m really just saying this for me at this point. No one really believes me anymore.
Monkeys in My Bag 