Let Your Child Be A Child, DAMMIT!!!!!

It's spring parent/teacher interview time and my next one is going to be a doozy.

The mother of this girl has a VERY strong personality and apparently there are many successful people in her family. Her daughter, however, is just average.

In the last story she wrote for me there was a mother figure 'yelling' at the protagonist, a little duck that couldn't smile, and telling it to smile. And in her journal writing she has written in abstract terms about the pressure she feels from her mother. Not surprisingly this girl has anxiety issues.

And, in a few minutes I am going to speak with her mother about how she's doing in my class. She's doing fine and like every other child she makes mistakes. My big fear is that this girl will be so anxious about not being perfect that instead of learning from her mistakes, her self-esteem will be torn apart by them.

So, in a professional non-threatening way I need to tell this parent to lay off.

Sometimes I really hate my job.