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November 14, 2012 Return to: Pouring in PajamasFull resolution (5184 × 3456)

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You know your child better than anyone else. Is there anything you would like to share with me? This question is perkily printed on a white piece of paper and has lots of space underneath. It is open ended on purpose and is what I used to ask parents on their second grade back to school questionnaire. I also printed What does your child not like? I got these questions from another teacher who was kind enough to share her questionnaire with me. I loved reading parents' answers. One parent disclosed how they had just moved here and how their child had failed last year. This info had not been listed anywhere in their records except on my survey and I was glad to have it. I made a mental note to make sure that this child would thrive. And he did! He was an avid artist and a strong gymnast, often walking on his hands at recess time. He had a smile that reminded me of a Disney character. One parent shared how their child did not not like anything. I was surprised but after teaching their child, confided to her that she was right- her child was indeed happy-go-lucky and seemed to pretty much like everything! One parent shared how their child hated being splashed in the face with water. These little notes made me smile as well as reflect. As parents of young children, we do know our child best and it is interesting to see when we are asked such questions, what will we share? I read the famous radio broadcaster Terry Gross from NPR asks interviewees, Tell me about yourself... If you were asked today, So, tell me about yourself... what would you say? If you have a child going to school and had to share with a teacher, You know your child better than anyone else. Is there anything you would like to share with me? , what would you say? When we are given the opportunity to share, are we surprised by what is on the tip of our tongues? Maybe the purpose of these open ended questions is to crack us open, pry open our thoughts, so that when we share, everything flows... #reemflections

Sharing an old post from.my blog when my eldest first started school! Now Z is in 4th grade! Post is about us getting a new routine in which unordinary things happen on ordinary days. Blue flowers bloom and today we saw a turkey cross a busy Atlanta road. Cars stopped, the turkey flailed, wandered, then ran to safety while Z and A watched on jubilantly, and were reminder of the turkeys in West Virginia! Z started school. Z starting school has given us a new routine in which like the turkey we may have stopped what we were doing, flailed and wandered, but then a little lost, still made it to safety or home. Baby A keeps repeating that Z is in school with a sad question intonation and is still adjusting to the daily 6 and a half hours without big sister entertainment. She still asks for 2 crackers, one for her, and one for Z before looking around then remembering. Then she’ll take out 2 breakfast plates for pancakes and remember again, and then finally will command me to sit in Z’s red chair, “sit Mummy! SIT!” Change can be tricky and challenging and adjusting to a new school routine a bit nice, a bit weird, a lot quiet, a bit peaceful. And I’m getting a new sense of time with baby A and Z. And a new sense of worry with Z- will she be okay? Will she behave? Will she eat her lunch? And like the quirky blue flowers that blossom I need to remember that flowers start out from seeds and then buds and crumbly blooms before they blossom. And as we go pick her up and witness her flyaway pony tails that show that yes she has had a good time, I know that we will all blossom. #reemflections

ReemFaruqi Photography

ReemFaruqi Photography

Lailah’s Lunchbox

Lailah’s Lunchbox

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