Parent Night

Audio By Carbonatix

School is in full swing now. Buses are rolling down the street, the voices of children can be heard everywhere, and parents are once again transporting children here and there. At the beginning of the school year, there’s usually an open house for parents. It’s a chance to meet your children’s teachers and learn about their expectations for the year. There are many parents who breeze right through those sessions without blinking an eye toward the curriculum. There are some, though, who feel very overwhelmed at the prospect of what lies ahead.

One of my friends is a parent who feels weighed down by the heaviness of those nights. She has a teenage son who has had learning disabilities since the third grade. These learning disabilities were caused by major medical issues he had as a child. Although each year that her son successfully passes a grade is cause for celebration, the challenges of the next year come quickly and cast a shadow on those festivities.

As my friend made her way through her son’s schedule on parent night, visiting each classroom in the same way her son does, she was struck by feelings of inadequacy. She felt like she was experiencing what her son undergoes in those settings. While other parents were sitting up confidently, eagerly anticipating words from the teacher, she sat there uneasy and unsure of how her son would ever pass the class.

Many of the parents she interacts with have very bright students who are also athletic. She said she wanted me to write about her son so that parents would understand that not everybody fits into the same mold. She understands that parents are proud of their kids, but when they constantly share about high GPA’s, athletic prowess, and social success, it just makes her feel like that much more of an outsider. I imagine her son feels it too when he’s in school.

As I listened to her talk, I realized that we all need to be more sensitive and we need to set an example for our children. We are all uniquely designed with different gifts and talents. Not everyone is going to be an academic superstar, but everyone has something to contribute to this world. Strip away our job titles, report cards, houses, and cars, and you’ll find we’re not that different from each other.