The hanging of a hat

Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Drill Team Officer, Friend, Teacher, Mentor, Co-host, Homeowner, Dog owner, Cook, Encourager, Disciplinarian, Sewing Enthusiast, Cake Decorator, Flight stewardess, and most recently, Gigi.

This in-comprehensive list of hats my mother has worn over the years is enjoyable to recall. She's worn many of those hats for me....and still does. But today, Friday June 1st, she will hang her one of these hats for the last time. 48 hours from now my mother will be a retired teacher. RETIRED!

23 years ago Daddy had been laid off. He was looking for another job but in the meantime Mom decided to go back to work. Having had every moment of her time the first 25 months of my life and 60% (you know it's true, Brudder, if only because I was the "bad" one) the years that followed, a working Mom would be an adjustment for any child. But my Mom wasn't going to let one hat compromise the other. I'm not sure now how she did it. I know that she still made my lunch. She still had home cooked dinners on the table every night of the week (tortellini night was my favorite). She still shuttled me to and from dance class, swim team, piano lessons, and my brother did some stuff too. :) She kept a clean house. She did all of our laundry. She cleaned the kitchen every night. We were spoiled! So, Mom hat still intact, 23 years ago she became a teacher.

In 23 years she has taught all kinds of students: some who were deaf, one who was mute. She has taught some with learning disabilities, other with "gifts and talents."  Some students were from a family with a mom and dad, some just a mom, others with two moms, thankfully none from monkeys. She has taught older and younger siblings sometimes she was thankful for this other times she was not. She has wiped boogers from noses, blood from knees, and tears from sweet little eyes. She has taught the lesson that pride in ones family jewels (it was a boy, of course) does not make it ok to show all the other kids under the reading table. She has helped people learn the appropriate timing of using the restroom...sadly not before there was a poop-smeared-on-the-wall incident. She has encouraged little girls of their inner beauty not their external beauty. She has been there when kids parents divorce. She has caught a thief. She has endured countless fire drills and tornado drills....those are the best because when little kids get in a ball under their desk, someone always farts and the room of kids laughs together. She has rung a school bell, made kids put their heads down on desks, and taken away recess but she never yells or insults. She used to reward with books on tape....now she rewards with iPad time. She got two masters over the years to further her education. She gets schedules of extra curricular activities from each student, each semester, and attends one of their baseball games, dance recitals, swim meets, etc. She has clocked MANY hours cheering on her students outside of her classroom. She helps them pass the STARR at the cost of tutoring sometimes as much as 4 times a week and yet her real gift is teaching the respect of each other. She is strict...and yet she loves them. I could go on and on with stories and if this wasn't a public blog I could even list names. Why? Because she loved them...the good, the bad, and the downright impossible. She would talk about them, pray for them, and try to figure out how in the one year she had with them she could make a difference. 23 years later she still gets to work early and often stays late. She still brings her own lunch. She still remembers the names of former students and LOVES to hear how they've grown. She endured many interviews with hopes of becoming a principal she never got hired. She didn't get bitter. She just kept chugging along. I know there are some kids who are thankful she was their teacher, not their principal. She remembers when kids were kids....she fights for her kids now to not grow up too fast. When others loose hope in a student, she says "I think you can." She's worn costumes to school, played in kickball games (and she hates balls being thrown at her), she's sang silly songs, and given up weekends to build trust with her students. She never quit trying to do things a little better.

Tomorrow, she'll hang her teacher hat for the last time. She's modest, she hates attention. I'm sure she'll sneak out the back door with the last box of belongings in her hands. She wouldn't want it any other way. But for 23 years I've seen the kind of teacher she is, the kind of co-worker she's been, and the kind of Mom she was in spite of it all and I just couldn't let this day slip by with out saying the following:

Mom - I am proud of you and the difference you've made. I admire your endurance. I appreciate your love for young children. Your pay checks don't reflect your worth. Your students may never know the sacrifices you made for them. Their parents may never appreciate how much you loved their child. But some of us know. I'll look at that hat on the hatstand with memories, admiration, and pride all the while knowing that 4 little ones won't remember you wearing that hat. In all too perfect timing you are making room for your next important one, Gigi. And I'm sure you'll continue to do as well with that role as you have the others.

So long, Mrs. McNally, 4th grade teacher. Job well done. Very well done.