I Was Truly Honored!

#sol20- October 20, 2020

I was all set for “When I Grow Up Day” sponsored by our Student Council, because as one of my students reminded me, “You are already grown up.”

I actually thought I would dress up as a teacher/grandma, because that may be my future, but then J. came to me. J. is a student who recently got glasses (due to my pressuring the family to get her eyes checked) much to her initial chagrin, so she has now joined me as a part of our unofficial “glasses club”- the way I try to help students wearing glasses to feel more comfortable and even cool.

“I want to be you, Ms. Erika,” she said one day.

“What do you mean Julie?” I asked- totally at a loss.

“I want to be you when I grow up. Is that okay?”

“What do you mean?” I persisted.

“For Friday, for ‘When I Grow Up Day,'” she patiently explained.

“Really?” I asked, “I would be honored!”

“What does that mean?” she queried.

“It means I think it is great and I would really love it!” I smiled with my eyes (because masks!).

“What should we wear?” she asked. It was then that I realized I might have to adapt my original plan.

We settled on a matching house shirt and decided that might be enough, even though she had a blonde wig she might want to wear, she realized my brown hair was not going to be blonde for the day. I asked her to bring a small picture so that we could make her a teacher lanyard.

Friday morning she popped in as she dropped off her backpack and she realized she had forgotten a picture. Not to be stymied I grabbed a piece of paper and J. drew a quick head shot and we added the school name and Elementary Teacher to her name. I slid it in the plastic cover and she proudly sported her lanyard. She may have had big plans when her friends suggested she should put on a duty sash for recess, but alas, I did not want her to get in any trouble, so nixed that plan. Classmates did call her “Ms. J.” for the day and that made her smile.

At the end of the day she came to me to dissemble her lanyard, taking her picture home as a souvenir.

As for me, I left with a full heart. It was a little tricky to connect with J. at the start of in person school, but it is safe to say we now share a special bond (and I still hope to be a teacher/grandma one day).