She rules the school

So you may have gathered that I've been a bit emotional lately. And I'm betting that you can only imagine what happened this week when the mail brought us a large box from Will's Kindergarten teacher.

Oh yes, I burst into tears.

Kindergarten teachers, I'm pretty sure, have mothers' hearts everywhere, and if they don't, they should. They have also shown that they can make me cry at the drop of a hat, and it's not just this week. Kindy was one of those things I wasn't sure I was ready to tackle, no matter whether my children were ready or not. And imagine my shock when I cried every single school program, every last picture opportunity... with all three children. I was supposed to be an old pro by that point, but glory those teachers could wring me out every last time. I couldn't even stay for a gift presentation for fear of embarrassment, and that was just to the assistant - I'll be mailing my gift to you, thank you, with a tear-stained label.

Great teachers in general deserve to be loved well by parents, but great Kindergarten teachers just take the cake, because I'm pretty sure they are the only teachers that are also required to be full-time therapists to the parents. They console us on the first day that our children will survive without us, and on the last that our children really were just "spirited", not heathens. (OK, maybe only I got that pep talk.) And that they were sure the sweet child you picked up that day would grow out of that annoying behavior by first grade. (Again, was this just me?)

So imagine my surprise when I open the box, and our wonderful teacher has done a scrapbook with a layout for each month - full of artwork, pictures, and what they did that month. She kills me. And I'm sure each of the 11 other books are just as lovely, and just as "awesome" as Will said it was. And as a surprise to no one, I weeped happy tears over all of the growing we've done through the school year.

Making my gratitude lists have been tough over the last few days, since most of the things I can come up with probably don't really count as things to be grateful for. ("Husband only complained mildly about the lack of dry cleaning" was one of them that seemed questionable.) But this? This tops the charts. So my one and only list item for tonight - the best Kindergarten teacher a boy could ask for.

Here's to you, Mrs. R - thanks for holding my hand, and letting Will go fully ready for what the world has to offer. We're incredibly grateful.