A Letter to My “First Kids”

To all the students I have taught the past four years, you have taught me so much.

You may not be “mine,” but I still think of you as my own. “My kids” is how I have referred to you the last four years!

To my current class, I am the teacher that knows you the best. All teachers care about you, but I have the most special place for you in my heart. We have been through nearly a whole school year together now. We have come to know each other like a family!

You have taught me patience (your stories can be very long) and you have taught me to not take things so seriously. Wait, I thought I was your teacher?

 I know what makes you happy, and I try my best to make those things happen. I know the things that make you sad, and my heart breaks with yours when you are that way. Like a mom, I just want you to be happy! I know how to connect with you, how to speak to you, what reactions you hope to get out of me when you tell me a story. I know when you are not feeling well. I know what mood you are in without you having to say a word. I know you, and I know what you need.

Like a mom.

Sometimes, you accidentally call me “mom.” You used to get embarrassed when that happened, but little did you know, it made me happy to think that maybe you called me that because you saw me as kind, caring, loving, and understanding human – like a mom.

Now, I am about to add a member to my own family, one that you have spent hours every day with – without even thinking about it. I am becoming an actual mom.

You have been through this journey with me throughout the whole nine months of my son’s existence. I was so excited to share with you the news that I was pregnant and to reveal his gender, and you shared the excitement with me. By the time you found out, it was November, but you had been sharing my attention with my little one since September! From September to May, you will have been with me through it all.

Your curious questions and sweet comments about my baby have made me so happy! “Your belly is really getting big!” You have made this my best year. I could not have hand-picked a better group of students to be by my side throughout my pregnancy. God definitely hand-picked you for me!

We have laughed so much together this year. Being compared to your pregnant cats and cows has made me laugh, as have your name suggestions. 

I love your sweet goodbyes at the end of the day that are aimed directly to my belly, my son.

It is so sweet that you know my lunch choice for the day will be salad, so I “can be healthy for the baby.” 

When I grab my belly, you know that “the baby must be kicking!”

I have prepared you for the possibility that my baby may come sooner than expected, and that you may have a substitute for the rest of the year if that happens. I hope that it doesn’t, and I can tell you hope the same. We are a family and we don’t like to be away from each other!

I worry about you when I have to leave for even just a half a day to make it to an appointment, like a mom would. I can tell you would rather me be there with you, even though having a substitute can be fun. When I come back the next day, I can tell you missed me, and I missed you too!

Thanks to you, I enjoy my job and look forward to seeing you walk in the classroom door. 

Thanks to you, I feel a little more prepared for my next job – being a mom. 

Mrs. Houchen