“Before he even stepped foot into his new classroom, a child on the playground came up to him. At age 5, my son had to come home and tell our family this as we sat around the dinner table. I had to look away so he wouldn’t see my tears.”
‘You don’t belong here and your color is awful!,’ a child said to my 5-year-old African American son on his first day of school.’: Mom worries for her adopted children at school this year, says despite ‘all the goodness, there is hurt’
‘I’m nervous leaving my kid with a stranger. This year may be tough for him.’: Mom hopes son’s teacher will ‘be patient’ with her, she’s still ‘learning to let go’
“My biggest fear is that he will get labeled the ‘bad kid’ in his class. Actually, if I’m being honest – my biggest fear is that he will start to believe he actually is a bad kid. I’m nervous about mean kids. I’m nervous he could become one of the mean kids.”
‘We left the hospital this morning with an infant and apparently drove directly to the Target college shop.’: Mom swears parenthood does ‘legit’ go ‘that fast’
“I know that’s not how it feels when you haven’t slept for days, and it’s completely OK to just flick me right in the forehead when I tell you to enjoy all the moments. But I’m going to tell you anyway.”
‘I totally biffed my first kindergarten car line drop off. Everything was going great, initially.’: Dad hilariously recounts running over traffic cone, ‘disaster’ of dad duties
“I was sweet and charming with the designated kid picker-upper teacher. And then… it. hit. the. fan. THUMP. I plowed over the ridiculously large orange traffic cone. The safety patrollers began frantically yelling at me, waving me down. I proceeded to army-crawl the entire length of the car, trying to pry out the stupid cone. I was a disaster.”
‘I only bought 2 backpacks instead of 3. I naively thought I was ready. But grief proved me wrong.’: Mom feels ‘paralyzed’ while back-to-school shopping after losing son to drowning accident
“I let down my guard, slammed with the sudden realization he is gone. My daughters stood on the edge of the balcony and watched as the world ended, watched as their parents begged to trade places with their little brother. He slipped away from us, down a spiral staircase, and fell into the pool.”
‘We are not your ‘typical’ family. We are white parents with a black child.’: Mom sends heartfelt letter to teacher ‘advocating’ for her black son this school year
“Eli is usually the only black student in his classroom. We are not a ‘colorblind’ family. Eli’s hair is a big part of who he is and how he expresses himself. Please don’t let anyone touch it without his permission. Please provide him with colored paper, pencils or markers that represents his skin color. Not many teachers in our small town think about this subject.”
‘Dear teacher, I need to apologize for my wife and I. We are going to be knee-deep in your business.’: Self-proclaimed ‘helicopter parent’ pens touching letter about why he’s overprotective of son with congenital heart disease
“His lips get blue when he’s cold, but he’s ok. I have watched his heart stop, 3 times. If you ever have to change his shirt, you’ll see the proof. Be cautious with how the other kids discuss it. He’s proud of it now – but if you let another kid steal that pride, you’ll hear our parental helicopter blades ripping through the air.”
‘It wasn’t bullying because she wasn’t picked on. It was almost as crushing – she was ignored.’: Mother urges school kids to reach out to ‘lonely’ students, ‘include them in their circle’
“I spent many nights with her crying in her bed asking me questions I couldn’t answer: ‘Why don’t I have any friends? Why don’t I get invited anywhere? What is wrong with me?’ I had no answers as I laid beside her as she sobbed. As important as it is to teach our children to study, to get good grades, it is also important to teach them to be kind.”
‘She’ll march into Kindergarten, without me. I won’t cry.’: Mom realizes the ‘fear’ of her daughter starting school is her own because ‘the world hasn’t gotten to her yet’
“Is she ready for school? Did we do enough? I have first day jitters just thinking about it. But when it comes time to part ways, there will be no tears from either of us.”
‘My children were screaming like wild hyenas. That was my worst parenting day yet. I went to sleep with a sore throat from yelling.’: Mom left ‘frazzled, disappointed’ that summer didn’t go as planned
“Our kids will probably have lots of junk to talk over with their therapist. I will never be the cool mom who lets things roll off her shoulders. I am the one who loses her temper, and then immediately regrets it.”
