Miss B has learned to read by the grace of God and her saint of a teacher. The middle Diva has learned how to stand up for herself against bullies and how to be passive aggressive. The oldest Diva has learned how to maneuver her way through the social circle of mean girls without cutting a bitch. So, I think the year has turned out good. 
The last few weeks have included teacher appreciation celebrations and 1000 end of the year parties. I'm all about showing gratitude and appreciation for others. And everyone knows I love a party. So, I tip my hat, raise my glass, and give a thumbs up to the amazing individuals who have nurtured and taught my Divas. You did good. You did damn good. As for the students, way to go!! You worked hard and played hard. Enjoy your summer.
I would like to take this moment to reach out to the parents. Confession: I want a parent parade. I want a celebration, appreciation, dedication, to US!! I want to parade down the streets and have people scream my name and throw beads at me. I want to sit on the back of a convertible with my Prosecco bottle in hand and have people shout wonderful affirmations mixed with profanity. I want a trail of parents in cars, walking, and turning cartwheels. I also want a band. One of those bands from New Orleans playing "Oh when those saints go marching in..." I want confetti and sparklers.
We deserve it. We have survived another year. We have spent late nights doing homework and projects. We have baked cookies and chaperoned field trips. We have cried behind closed doors because MATH just makes people cry. We have raced through car rider lines to get our kids to school on time. We have angrily cut the edges off of sandwiches for lunches. We have quietly plotted a way to jack up the asshat that keeps giving our child grief. We have volunteered our time, our money, our energy, our talents, and our brain cells to various projects. We have taken off work to catch projectile vomiting in our hands. We have found strength to not knock the hell out of a kid for talking back to us. We have gotten out of bed and cooked breakfast after spending all night shitting lava because our kids gave us cooties. We have ushered our kids back and forth to birthday parties and extra curricular activities. We have forgotten a child and spent all night praying they not be ruined forever.
We have prayed for those kids that are not one of our own. We have taken the oathe..."It takes a village". We have smiled at the parent for giving us the stink eye because we forgot to bring cookies to the Christmas party. We have flipped off the condescending email from the parents who have their shit together and want to make it know that we dropped the ball. We have written our names in the blanks on sign up sheets knowing that we just sold ourselves to the devil. We have nervously answered our cellphones from the nurse at school praying that an ER visit is not in store. We have fled work on two wheels to make it to the play only to have our kids not even acknowledge us.
We are at the end of the road. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Summer is approaching and we welcome it. We reach our arms out to the days approaching that will be full of sunshine, sleeping in, fights, boredom, vacations, temper tantrums, tears, no structure, sleepovers, sunburns, bee stings, tons of television, babysitters, expensive camps, childcare, and the inability to satisfy our children. We will find ourselves in the closet crying not because of MATH but because our families have gone MAD.
So, I want a pat on the back for the year and the summer. I do and I know it's selfish. But, I want to have people scream..."good job", "your kid is just a little shit right now. It's okay", "20+ tardiness aren't that bad", "you tried", and so forth. I want other parents there right in line with me. We deserve it. We have done our job whether our parent appraisal may be good or bad. Some of us kept trying.
I appreciate you and you and you. I see you struggling to not slam on your breaks to show the little shit in the backseat that seatbelts are necessary. I see you piecing together summer activities, camps, vacations, and child care. I see the tapped out look in your eyes. I see you and I am giving you a high fucking five. The struggle is real and has been real all year. And look at you...still marching on.
So, why don't we march together. Start a parent appreciation movement. Throw a party. Bake a parent some cookies. Send a parent a "happy". Send a parent a shout out. Toss me some beads and I will raise my glass of Prosecco to you.
