I was invited to a special "orange" carpet event today in Emmitt's classroom. Mrs. Dowty is a fantastic teacher who pushes the kids to try their best and then to go a little farther. She was amazing with Parker and created a wonderful year for Emmitt.
She had all of the kids draw a picture of their mom and then write about them each day. Their writing reflected their reading and it was amazing to witness what those kids have to say about us moms. I will admit I was half expecting something like, "my mom only wears yoga pants" or "if my mom had more time she would play on her phone" or worse, "my mom yells all the time." But that little dude of mine does realize that I love to snuggle him and read to him and help him with homework.
Here is what Emmitt
had to say wrote about me..."My mom's name is Becky. She has brown eyes like me. She is tall. She has red and yellow hair. She works at VNP. My mom does my laundry for me. She helps me clean my room with me. She helps me do my homework with me. She takes me to Subway. She took me when I got my tonsils out. My mom makes the best lettece because it is made of lettece. She puts on Ranch dressing with tomatoes and croutons. I love my mom."
I say wrote and not read because my baby, my tender hearted boy got to the part about our eyes being the same and lost it. His little lip started to quiver, his voice cracked and he just couldn't do it. I lasted through the next line as Mrs. Dowty read his words to me and I scrambled up to the front of the room. He just stared at the floor as she read for him and I rubbed his back. When she ended with, "I love my mom" he let me hug him and pick him up. Now, he was the first speaker of the day in the crowded room, but he's read at church and performed before. I'm not sure if it really was "all the people" as he says or if it was actually him being vulnerable and opening up in front of all his classmates. I mean, if I had to get up and speak to a crowd about how much I loved my mom, I would be crying too. He let me carry him back to his seat and he let me soothe him and hold him. After a few of the other kids read to their moms he let me return to my chair.
We finished the program with him receiving a Magnificent Mathematician award and some treats. And this was the one time that I actually took advantage of the "optional release." I'm always the mom rushing back to work and making my kid ride the bus home. We talked on the way to the car about how he was feeling and then we snuggled a bit more at home.
My sweet, sweet boy. My baby. My seven year old. My tender hearted little man. I love you and am so proud to be your momma.
