Endless Pursuit for Mom of the Year

A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own image. ~ Author Unknown -------------------------- What a powerful influence teachers are to young minds!  We have been blessed to have fantastic teachers as daughter of the year #1 progresses through school.  One of them just stands out among the others.   I normally don't use names in my blog, but there could be a million Ms. Green's out there, so we'll go with it.  Daughter of the year #1 and I both know, to us, there's really only ONE Ms. Green. It's no secret that #1 has struggled with her confidence over the years and after a terrifying 1st grade bullying incident, I just wanted to throw in the towel!  FIRST GRADE people!  Second grade got better, in spite of those "bathtub conversations."  But, I might not ever forget the day I took #1 to school to see who her 3rd grade teacher would be.  I'm still not sure...

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely.  ~ Ogden Nash ----------------------------------- Whew!  Today was a big day.  BIG day!  I turned 40.  How in the hell did that happen?  It honestly seems I was just turning 30 not that long ago.  As I begin that trip "over the hill" let me relive my day for you.  This, my friends, truly IS 40! I felt this way.  Really I did.  But today I felt too damn old to deal with a 4 year old fit on my bathroom floor against the bathtub.  All this over the pants I put on her today.   The fit ended just long enough to give me a taste of my favorite musical treat:  the recorder!  This time, #1 played the piano while #2 blew with the force of a very mighty wind through her sister's recorder.  After all, it's never too early to start the day with Tylenol.      I'm 40 now, so I went all Seinfeld today and ...

Music is what feelings sound like.  ~ Author Unknown ---------------------------- I knew this day would come.  In fact, I hoped it would.  But never, ever, did I think it would try my patience like it has. Growing up, music was like air to me.  I needed it daily and as my relationship with it grew, it became something very important to me. I nearly made it a career until I grew unsure how I would actually accomplish that.  My mom will tell you all about the scholarship I turned down as a result, just ask her. In the end, it was a love but, for me, it was never a career.   Daughter of the year #1 has been taking piano lessons for 3 years.  There were times it tested me but that mainly came from frustrated bangs on the keys and hearing Jolly Old Saint Nicholas clear into the month of March.  Who knew my ultimate test of patience would come with a 12 inch piece of plastic with holes.   Ah, the blessed rec...