Kindergarten Teacher Handed A Mom A Note On The First Day Of School That Made Her ‘Ugly Cry’
Her tears flowed after reading the teacher's heartfelt message.
Krakenimages.com | Shutterstock Parents are the witnesses to many milestones that their kids achieve throughout their lifetime. They’re there for first steps and first words, cheering all the way. They slip lost teeth out from under their children’s pillows and snap photos of them every autumn, to commemorate the first days of school.
Yet once kids do go off to school, the tether between them and their parents loosens, if only a little, as they begin to establish an independent life, outside of their family home. This transition is highly emotional and represents a time of exciting change, balanced with a certain sense of loss.
Aside from parents themselves, no one knows this more than teachers, and one mom shared how her kids’ teacher put her worried mind at ease.
The kindergarten teacher gave the mom a note on the first day of school that made her ‘ugly cry.’
Tavia Wade shared a story about the emotional impact of sending her twin daughters to kindergarten, and how the girls’ teacher gave her a heartwarming message that captured how heightened her emotions were.
The slip of paper came with tissues attached, and Tavia warned her followers, “I dare you not to cry when I read this.”
The note contained a heartfelt poem the teacher wrote to ease parents into the transition of dropping their kids off at school for a full day.
“I give you a little wink and smile as you enter my room today, for I know how hard it is to leave and know your child must stay,” Tavia recited.
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“You’ve been with them for many years now, and have been a loving guide, but now, alas, the time has come to leave them at my side,” she continued. “Just know that as you drive away, the tears down your cheeks may flow; I’ll love them as I would my own and help them learn and grow.”
“So, please put your mind at ease and cry those tears no more, for I will love them and take them in, when you leave them at my door,” the poem ended.
Reading the poem gave her the ‘immediate’ reaction of bursting into tears and ‘ugly crying.’
“My husband and I couldn’t even lift our heads until we were, like, halfway home; we live, like, a block away from the school,” she said. “We were both uncontrollably crying.”
Once kids leave the safety and comfort of their homes and enter the larger world, there’s no telling how that world is going to treat them.
Life can be cruel, and children can easily have their hopes and dreams deterred by forces out of their control.
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For that reason, it’s so important that they have adults in their lives, aside from their parents, who can act as loving guides, stewarding them through the storms that might come their way.
As an infant and toddler caregiver, I spent over a decade caring for kids who weren’t my own. As that kindergarten teacher acknowledged, no one can replace the role a parent has, but as care providers, we love those kids as deeply as if they were ours.
Teachers and childcare providers are underpaid and underappreciated.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for kindergarten teachers is $62,690.
Nannies often earn whatever parents feel like paying, as they provide services in an unregulated market.
Basically, the people who care for and tend to the minds of parents' greatest gifts are often treated with little regard and barely paid a living wage.
Everyone deserves to make a living wage, especially the people holding space for children, the ones helping to raise them up in an all too unforgiving world.
The kindergarten teacher’s note proved that the level of commitment and love that goes into caring for kids runs deep, even though those kids are only in their care for a brief period of time.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture, and all things to do with the entertainment industry.