A Letter to My Kids
Welp, school is almost out. On one hand, I am overjoyed because I will finally be able to join my husband, who I've been missing for what seems like years, but is actually only 8 months.
But on the other hand, school ending is breaking my heart. I've come to love these kids with all of my being, from the one who called me the name for a female dog to the one who is extremely sexually inappropriate to the one who brought me coffee creamer because "you couldn't afford it." I love them all, so much. So here's a letter for all of you, one I won't send out, but one I wish I could. But it's not PC, so I won't.
Kids,
I have come to love you as my own. With everything that has happened in recent years regarding school shootings, I once had a thought: if I became a teacher, my first instinct would be to protect the children in my care. With that thought in mind, I knew that I would have to be prepared to lay down my life for each and every one of you in a split second.
I know that's a dark thought. And I pray that you will never have an experience like that.
But that is how much I love you. Each of you.
Each of you is special. Each of you was somebody when you came in this classroom, and you are leaving even better somebodies. This is not to toot my own horn, no. Maybe you learned something from your mom, your dad, an experience from someone you don't know. Maybe you took a bad situation and got something out of it. Maybe you learned it from a kid on the bus. But you are leaving this year a better somebody.
Each of you is special. Don't give up on yourself. Don't let others give up on you.
You will make mistakes. Maybe you'll hurt someone emotionally. Maybe you'll hurt someone physically. Maybe you'll get an F. Maybe you'll fail a class. Maybe you'll get fired from a job. Maybe, and I pray this doesn't happen, maybe you'll even end up in jail or some other situation you feel you can't fix.
But let me tell you a little something you don't know about you.
You are better, everyday, than you were yesterday. You are a little older, a little wiser, a little more experienced, a little better at handling a situation. So it doesn't matter where you are. There is tomorrow, there is an up. You can fix anything!
You are starting somewhere. You are being someone important. I know this because you are important to me. You are important to parents and grandparents and other teachers. And if you someday have no other person in your life, know that you will still, even 50 years from today, be important to me.
You don't have to love me. You don't even have to like me, and I'm certain that there are one or two of you who don't. But I love you anyway.
This is all to say that you are somebody. You will be a better somebody tomorrow, and an even better somebody a year from now.
You will be athletes, you will be comedians, some of you will be caretakers for your families. You will be artists and readers and scientists and people who question the world. Some of you will be popular, and some of you won't. Some of you will have a smooth road ahead, and some of you won't. Some of you will fit in, and some of you will stand out on your own, and some of you will hide in the corners. Whatever you do, do it with pride, because, above all, more than anything else, you are someone who is deeply loved, so much so that I would die for you because you are that important, to me, and to society.
With so much love,
Mrs. J2
But on the other hand, school ending is breaking my heart. I've come to love these kids with all of my being, from the one who called me the name for a female dog to the one who is extremely sexually inappropriate to the one who brought me coffee creamer because "you couldn't afford it." I love them all, so much. So here's a letter for all of you, one I won't send out, but one I wish I could. But it's not PC, so I won't.
Kids,
I have come to love you as my own. With everything that has happened in recent years regarding school shootings, I once had a thought: if I became a teacher, my first instinct would be to protect the children in my care. With that thought in mind, I knew that I would have to be prepared to lay down my life for each and every one of you in a split second.
I know that's a dark thought. And I pray that you will never have an experience like that.
But that is how much I love you. Each of you.
Each of you is special. Each of you was somebody when you came in this classroom, and you are leaving even better somebodies. This is not to toot my own horn, no. Maybe you learned something from your mom, your dad, an experience from someone you don't know. Maybe you took a bad situation and got something out of it. Maybe you learned it from a kid on the bus. But you are leaving this year a better somebody.
Each of you is special. Don't give up on yourself. Don't let others give up on you.
You will make mistakes. Maybe you'll hurt someone emotionally. Maybe you'll hurt someone physically. Maybe you'll get an F. Maybe you'll fail a class. Maybe you'll get fired from a job. Maybe, and I pray this doesn't happen, maybe you'll even end up in jail or some other situation you feel you can't fix.
But let me tell you a little something you don't know about you.
You are better, everyday, than you were yesterday. You are a little older, a little wiser, a little more experienced, a little better at handling a situation. So it doesn't matter where you are. There is tomorrow, there is an up. You can fix anything!
You are starting somewhere. You are being someone important. I know this because you are important to me. You are important to parents and grandparents and other teachers. And if you someday have no other person in your life, know that you will still, even 50 years from today, be important to me.
You don't have to love me. You don't even have to like me, and I'm certain that there are one or two of you who don't. But I love you anyway.
This is all to say that you are somebody. You will be a better somebody tomorrow, and an even better somebody a year from now.
You will be athletes, you will be comedians, some of you will be caretakers for your families. You will be artists and readers and scientists and people who question the world. Some of you will be popular, and some of you won't. Some of you will have a smooth road ahead, and some of you won't. Some of you will fit in, and some of you will stand out on your own, and some of you will hide in the corners. Whatever you do, do it with pride, because, above all, more than anything else, you are someone who is deeply loved, so much so that I would die for you because you are that important, to me, and to society.
With so much love,
Mrs. J2
Comments