Changes?

It would seem I have more than my fair share of crazy to deal with lately.  I am trying to keep everyone moving forward and not veering too close to the edge.  That said, in order to keep the troops mobilized, many things fall off the plate.  Depending on how much effort the  mobilization requires, everything other than moving forward might cease to be important.

Just a side note about priorities, it is interesting what remains important when everything else is crashing and burning.  Laundry, cleaning the house, writing my Thursday blog post, driving kids places, fighting with the school about the wack-a-doo teacher, all those things cease being meaningful, but showering doesn't.  Actually going to the gym or working out still made the cut.  Interesting.

All this is my long winded way of saying, sorry folks but in the midst of my personal drama, ya'll didn't make the cut.  But, here we are now.  Today's, ok, yesterday's topic is to talk about how you changed someones life.

I think it is hard to know the impact you have on someone else's life.  A random stranger bought my kids candy in the grocery store one day when I was having a really bad day.  She brightened every one's mood.  Right then and there, she gave me the strength to carry on.  But, she will never really know how much I appreciated her grace.  Have I done things like that for other people?  It is hard to say.

There is one person who has told me that I changed her entire career.  That I gave her feed back that no one else had ever given her and it has changed how she teaches and approaches her life.

But, let me back up.  Mac had a teacher who seemed to really want to work with him, but was incapable of making it work.  I had meeting after meeting with her where I delicately suggested that she not internalize his behavior and take it personally.  His behavior wasn't a reflection on how he felt about her.  Finally, we were sitting in a meeting with the principal and some other staff members where I directly said this.  I tried to be tactful, but I was pretty direct.

I imagine that the words stung, but she thought about it.  The next day she said my words echoed in her ears as Mac did something that would have ired her.  She let it go and redirected his behavior, and it worked.  She said that she allowed him to get her goat and in doing so she would react defensively towards him.  By reacting in a more neutral fashion she was able to achieve her end goal.

Mac loves this teacher, and she patiently maintains contact with him.  She has told me time and again how teaching Mac made her a better teacher and a better person.  That kids come into her classroom now and they don't have the impact on her that they used to have.

I agree, parenting Mac has made me much more patient.  It has taught me that the shortest distance between two points is often not a straight line.  I am much better at finessing situations.  I will never be a charming manipulator, but at least I am a bit more creative in how I reach my goal.

Want to check out the other stories?   Check them out at: Froggie, Momarock, and Merrylandgirl