First grade, oh how I miss thee

I spent this morning in my son's classroom, and while I've always liked Andrew's teacher and know how much he adores her, I can now fully understand her appeal. Surrounded by 23 kids -- 5- and 6-year-olds super excited about winter break and Santa and presents, imagine the scene -- she's comforting, soft-spoken, firm yet loving...all the things a first-grade teacher should be, of course. But there's something about this teacher, something more. I tell you, when you come across a teacher like Stephanie - oh, how I wanted to be in my pjs, too, and twirl a candy cane in my cup of hot chocolate before padding down to the auditorium to watch The Polar Express on a screen that's as big as any movie theatre. I sat there transfixed during her storytelling of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, a calm enveloping me like the coziest of blankets. I didn't even care that my knees were scrunched up to practically my chest because I was seated on one of the kids' tiny chairs. For those few moments, I just sat and listened. I didn't talk to the other moms, didn't try to catch my son's eye. I just took it in, enjoying this small, innocent moment of a great teacher reading to her sweet class. Cliche as it sounds, I had this moment. And oh, I needed this moment. To not think about the scattered morning trying to get two kids and a large thermos of hot chocolate out the door on time (while stopping to dry the tears of the 3-year-old who wanted to "go with the kids" but needed to stay with daddy); or the ever-tightening budget and how it means Christmas is going to be a whole lot different than years' past; or how marriage and parenting and relationships and just life is so incredibly, heartbreakingly sad and hard so much more often that you ever thought possible. ... It was in this precious, fleeting moment that I did stop and got that perspective that has been eluding me lately. It's going to be okay. It IS okay. I choose to let go of the things I cannot control and simply enjoy, this moment and all the others to come.