Today is Lane’s birthday! It should be a great day for him, but we had to give him so very disappointing news. Before I get into that, I should explain that Lane is a very loving young boy who loves to make people smile and laugh. He never wants to disappoint anyone and wants no one disappointed in him. It truly breaks his heart when that happens.
After enrolling the kids in school, we were very excited for the kids teachers, well almost all of their teachers. We had concerns with Lane’s teacher. I couldn’t put my finger on it at Meet the Teacher, but my gut just told me that this was not going to be a match. Kristi and I gave Lane a week in the class and then went to 2nd Grade orientation. Kristi was able to meet the teacher this time and she immediately said “I just don’t get those Elementary warm and fuzzies.”. We let another week pass, had very little communication from the teacher and we felt she just did not have Lanes best interest in mind. It was at that point, Kristi sent an email to the Principal expressing our concerns. To our surprise, the Principal immediately responded today and stated that Lanes success was very important to her and that Lane would be placed in a new class effective tomorrow. We have met a few other parents from the school and the feedback we have received regarding this new teacher for Lane has been overwhelmingly positive. We know we are making the right decision.
At least we think we know we are. As parents, don’t we always second guess those important life decisions. You know, those decisions like I’m afraid to take the plunge because I don’t know what it will do to my kids education. Yes, that was a big concern for us. Anyway, we really do feel this is the right decision for Lane. Now the hard part. Telling Lane. Remember, I said today is his birthday. Well, I chose to tell Lane immediately after school, ensuring him that he did nothing wrong and that he was in any sort of trouble. The tears from Lane came pouring. My heart broke. He cried for his new friends that would not be in his class any longer, he cried because he would miss his current teacher, he cried because he missed his old school in Texas. I did everything I could do to console Lane. I hugged him, I held him, I let him cry and I cried with him and reminded him that we loved him and wanted nothing but the best for him.
Tomorrow, Lane will begin his new adventure with a new teacher and new friends in 2nd grade. We know he is sad about this change, but we know he will do great and will be successful. We know that we made this decision with the best interest in mind for Lane. In the meantime, we will focus on tonight’s festivities as we celebrate the birth of Lane at Chuck-E-Cheese! Check in with me tomorrow and I’ll let you know how it goes.