The Parent-Teacher Meeting

We had a parent-teacher meeting today with Anya's teacher and I'm kvelling -- they said she's a model student.  Now, for those who are unfamiliar with Anya (though she's somewhat of a star at the Celebrity Baby Blog, most people have never heard of her because she lacks the parentage of Suri or Shiloh), she is two years old and goes to pre-school.

The idea of a parent-teacher conference for a two-year-old may seem absurd, but is actually quite helpful for both the parents and the teachers.  As a parent, you see a lot of your child, but don't often get to observe them with other adults and around other children, without you (unless you have a nanny cam or one-way mirrors).  They have a tendency to behave quite differently with those who are not their parents -- for example, they tend to listen more to nannies, know they can get grandma to give them sweets, and act out with other kids.  And they aren't always honest (or verbal) when you ask them what happened at school.  So talking to Miss Gina and Miss Allison was great because we've been dying to know what Anya's like when we're not around.

Like I said, they told us that Anya is a model student -- she listens, has a great vocabulary, has great dexterity, knows her colors and animal sounds very well, plays nicely, shares, is concerned when her classmates are upset, follows rules, and talks to the teachers.  She loves to look at books, play house, do art projects, play with puzzles and the toy car garage.  The only thing they would like her to do is talk to the other kids.  They said that they can tell that we do everything we're supposed to at home and that we are affectionate with her and that she is loved.  It was really nice to hear how well-rounded and well-balanced our kids is and it makes you feel good as a parent that you're doing a good job -- that your kid reflects on everything you do with them.

Not that the other kids are bad, but not all of them listen, share, follow direction, stay with the group, etc. As a child, I was a lot like Anya and my brother was a lot like some of the other kids.  The feedback our teachers gave our parents went like this: Danielle: Very good student, but needs to speak up more.  Justin: Very good student, but needs to talk less to his neighbors.  We both turned out pretty good and I eventually learned to speak up more, but it took about 20 years!

My friend's son is in Anya's class and she shared the feedback she received.  "Ben needs to work on hanging up his coat on the hook."

Don't you love how simple life was back then?

-- Danielle Friedland is author of Celebrity Baby Blog

 See more of my contributions at the Code Orange group.