To the teacher moms headed back to work in the next few weeks...

To the teacher moms heading back to work in the next few weeks...

You are a teacher. It’s your heart and passion. You can jazz up a classroom and bulletin board like it’s nobody’s business. When you step inside a school, you have a permanent smile on your face & are a hug giving machine. For 200 days (at least) out of the year, you’re working. Constantly thinking of ways to better yourself, your classroom, and your students. But it’s your second most important job. It easily gets knocked down the rank when you get to enjoy the best title of all, being a Mom.

It’s nearing the end of summer and each time you enter a store and see a back to school sign, you are immediately over come with emotions. You’re happy to welcome 20 or so new students. Students you will refer to as your “kids” for the rest of your life. Thoughts of new faces, new names, new struggles, and new accomplishments flood your mind.
Then you see your own children impatiently waiting in the buggy. Those sweet children that you loved before they were even created. And oh, the immense sense of sadness.

You’ve spent 8 weeks at home. You’ve played in the yard, cleaned up countless messes, filled constant sippy cups, broken up fights, cuddled, and enjoyed every second of the chaos. But now...now you have to leave the biggest part of heart and find that spot where your adding the love of 20 more. A place you revisit at the beginning of each year. One of the most rewarding and exciting loves, you’ll ever have, but gosh, it’s hard.

Your kids are only little once, and those summers are flying by. You can’t stop the tears from flowing every time you think about loosing 8 hours away from those tiny little humans you created, but August is nearing and your summer is running out.

But you are a rockstar and not only a mother to your own children, but a mother to many others who will be in your classroom. These parents trust you with their kids. Their precious cargo that they love more than gold. They trust you to take their place 8 hours out of the day and mold precious little minds. Some will respect you, some you will form friendships with, some you may never meet, some you will only hear from when they’re unhappy, and you may fill the gap of some.

There may be one little soul in your class that needs you. That needs that mother figure. They may not be the easiest child to manage their behaviors either, but they need you. They need that hug, that encouragement, that smile, that “I believe in you.” You may be the one person that loves and believes in them. You can make that connection, that difference. Show them what it’s like to be loved and believed in.

Even though you’re dreading the thoughts of missing your own, imagine what you’re gaining. Think of the joy that student may get when they get their morning hug. It could be the only hug they receive all day. Think of the pride that swells within them when you flash that perky teacher smile when you spot them down the hallway or that high five they’re given for improving their behavior. Think of the lives you’re changing, the love you’re giving. Think of all the teachers that will be present in your child’s life that will always do the same. It makes the back to school transition just a little easier.

So, go love on your babies and make sweet summer memories before you open up 20 more spaces in your heart.