Yesterday I went to visit MM’s class and do my last little bit of class volunteering for the school year. I’ve been visiting his class with BB just about every week and have really loved getting to know MM’s teacher and classmates all year. He has a truly fantastic teacher this year who has taught him a lot and been very welcoming to me and BB – which makes volunteering in the classroom even better.

It is easy to be nervous about your kid being at school and away from you and to wonder how much they are learning and what their teacher is like with them. Helping out in class is a great way to ease those fears and to get a peek into your child’s school day. Just by sitting and reading with all the kids, I get a peek into how my own child’s reading compares to his classmates and I get to know all of the kids so that when my son talks about his friends at school, I really know who he is talking about and what they are like.

I brought a little end of year gift with me yesterday – not much really, just a little travel mug and some mechanical pencils, bookmarks and a little gift card. I hope she spends it on something fun and not school supplies, but I know those gift cards can be an invaluable way to get fun and necessary stuff for the classroom. There was also a little note in there from me about how awesome she is and a drawing by MM telling much of the same.

She really surprised me though, with this beautiful hanging plant for our home and a stuffed lion with a little baby lion for BB, thanking us for all the time we’ve spent in class helping out with little projects and going around the class helping kids with their work. I really was not expecting this and was kind of blown away again by how wonderful she is. These kids are lucky to have such a caring, thoughtful teacher to help them learn not just school work but also how to be a good person.

The only problem was – I only have one spot for hanging plants and it doubles as the home for my new wind chime in between pretty flower season – I wasn’t quite ready to take it down just yet – so I had to improvise!