Parent-Teacher Conference

I thought parent-teacher conferences for preschool were just plain silly, at first. Then I realized this would be a great opportunity to hear about Alice in a setting outside our home, amongst peers, in a structured environment outside of my control. I look forward to it all semester, and finally it comes!

Mrs. Strom tells us Alice is a pleasure to have in class. I think, "Yeah, yeah, get to the good stuff. What's she REALLY like?" Mrs. Strom tells us she's an enthusiastically imaginative girl who is interested in everything. I try not to roll my eyes,"C'mon, tell me something I don't already know." Mrs. Strom tells us she plays equally well with all the other kids in her class, not singling out any gender or individual. I'm getting impatient, thinking, "Okay, what else?" Then Mrs. Strom says she has a couple pictures of Alice in class. I think, "Yes! This is what I'm looking for!" and she shows us 1) Alice gleefully squirting water onto powder paint and 2) Alice decked out in princess dress-up. I try not to look disappointed. In my mind it's, "Crafts and dress-up?! Crafts and dress-up?! I already have a million pictures of Alice doing crafts and dress-up! What's she REALLY like at school?!"

I leave the conference with mixed feelings, "Sure, I'm glad Alice is getting so much out of preschool, but what's Mrs. Strom holding back?"

Then it dawns on me a couple days later, "Maybe Alice is the same girl at school that she is at home."

Novel concept.

I thought Alice would reveal something new or unexpected about herself in preschool. I wondered (hoped?) if the new environment would help me understand the girl better, be a better mom, or identify things to work on. I secretly craved additional clues into the young woman she would eventually become. Turns out I have all the clues at home.

Confident, expressive, imaginative, and social, social, social at home or abroad. That's Alice.

Alice manages to convince her cousin Will that he needs a hairdo.