It's hot.

Today Vivie said her first complete sentence: it's hot. I know this does not seem like any revolutionary idea or anything, but to me it was a big deal. At first, I really did not think about it too much, but as I spent another 30 minutes in the car after driving an hour from Bowling Green today, it really sunk in about why this is so important.

For the last few days, I have been at an AP workshop at Western Kentucky attempting to prepare for a new class I am teaching in the fall. Needless to say, I am excited and intimidated about this new opportunity. I am thrilled to be given the chance to teach this challenging course. 2 of my favorite people in the whole world are experienced AP teachers, and for lack of a better word, my mentors about everything in the world of education. Their opinions really matter to me. They keep reassuring me that I am going to do a great job, but after sitting in this workshop learning about  concepts such as verisimilitude and enthymeme, I  am thinking about all of the ways I am going to mess this up for my juniors.  I am feeling overwhelmed and consumed.

5 o'clock finally rolls around and I get to see my sweet girl. As I am putting her in the car, she keeps repeating "it's hot" while I am thinking about how I am going teach rhetorical strategies and satire effectively throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Then it hit me - Vivie just put an idea together in her tiny little mind and conveyed it correctly to her mommy. I know that to most this may not seem like a huge accomplishment, but the more I thought it about the more important it seemed.

Why I am so consumed with being such a perfect teacher that all I can think about is the Toulmin model for teaching logic when my little girl just created a perfectly logical sentence? Why am I not thinking about how amazing she is and how every day holds new possibilities for her? Why am I not working on this blog more instead of reading blogs about how to effectively teach high school English? Why am I so consumed with my students creating perfect sentences when a 2 word sentence has thrilled me beyond belief? Why am I so obsessed with trying to be perfect and do it all?

I think for all of us moms it is so easy to get caught up in this dichotomy, especially when it concerns work and family. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. However, all I have been thinking about for the past 3 days is how to be the perfect teacher and how to wow my students with all I have to teach them. I think I need to think about how to wow Vivie with some love and affection. That is on the agenda for this weekend. I think it is going to be hot this weekend. If you are not sure, just ask Vivie and she will let you know.