We recently experienced a “parent first”. We attended a parent/teacher conference for Jenna. Before the conference we received a checklist with comments to review beforehand. Some of these comments included:
“She will always ask other children to play with her or include them in her activity.”
“Always shows how proud of herself she is.”
“Jenna does great with situations such as crossing busy roads and having surprise fire alarms. She stays focused and does exactly what she should do.”
“Very caring and loving towards others. She notices others emotions.”
“Loves to help others.” “Love to sing! Does chanting during clean up and singing during group.”
“Loves to ask questions and tells great stories.”
Could I be any more proud? I didn’t think so, until the face to face part of the conference. Erik and I met with Ms. Kelli and Ms. Erica and on the table they had all sorts of drawings, writing and projects that Jenna had done. They showed us her progress, went over the checklist. Explained how she is advanced and really excels in a lot of areas. They confirmed to us that her sometimes backwards letters are totally normal for this age. They both expressed how much they enjoy Jenna and how big her heart it.
Here is the part that got me…they said, as sad as it is, there are already kids in preschool who are getting singled out and made fun of and bullied. They said Jenna is one of the only kids who will stick up for them, and play with those kids. They said she has the personality where she sticks up for herself and others, she is sensitive and emotional, and looks out for the kids who may be getting picked on. I got tears in my eyes. At that moment I was swelling with pride for my daughter! She has more kindness and compassion at four years old than some adults do. Her teachers said how everyone likes Jenna and she is often times the life of “the party” and cracking other kids and teachers up. The immense feeling of pride I felt in that moment will stay with me forever, and I hope those qualities stay with Jenna forever.
