“I Don’t Know How You Do It”

One of the last years of teaching, I was doing hall duty in the 7th grade wing of my school late in the day.  A parent lurched out of the rowdy, rambunctious crowd of students and stood by me for a moment looking totally overwhelmed.  After taking a deep breath, she told me that she was spending the day shadowing her child and that she couldn’t believe what she saw. 

I waited for what I thought would be a negative critique of our teachers and our school.

She went on to declare that anyone who has criticisms of teachers and what they are doing should spend one day, one single day, in school following their child around.  “I honestly don’t know how you do it,” she said smiling weakly.  It’s mind boggling!”

Then she took a deep breath and dove back into the surging mass of seventh graders.

I just smiled.

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