Why Was I So Worried ?

When I was a kid the thought of Parent Teacher Conferences always made me nervous.  I am not normally a worrier, and clearly wasn't much of one in my youth either (just ask my mom about all the stupid things I did that a normal child's 'worry-gene' would keep them from doing).

I sort of expected that as an adult this fear about a meeting with a teacher would dissipate.  It hasn't.

Ben (center) at the
5th grade Geography Bee

Today I left work early so that I could attend a conference with my 2nd son, Ben's, teacher.  I had been nervous all day about the meeting.  This was partly due to the fact that our kids almost never have scheduled conferences for us with their teachers.  In our school district (or at least our schools in this neighborhood), teachers often cancel a possible conference if there is nothing much that needs to be discussed.  If the student is progressing well, academically and socially, then parents just receive a (detailed) report card and a few notes from the teacher.  So the very fact that there was a need to meet brought on a sense of concern.

It was all for naught.

Ben is doing so well that he needs an ALP (Advanced Learning Plan), which is set up with the school's "Gifted and Talented" teacher in conjunction with a child's homeroom teacher.  That was the reason we needed to meet for a conference: to help set some goals for Ben's ALP.

Whew!

Until the next time ...

Song Of The Day:
For some reason the song "Maybe" by Alison Krauss (and Union Station) came to my mind while writing this post.  The song itself is about love and moving on so it's not really applicable to the topic today ... but maybe I need to "move on" from worrying about things that have not come to pass yet.  I'm more of a realist than an optimist, but maybe that should change.

...