An Unexpected Parent/Teacher Conference Moment

This morning at Averey's parent/teacher conference, we heard nice comments from her second grade teacher. It was also neat that Averey mostly lead the conference herself, sharing her reading, writing, and math goals for the year. 

And then her teacher shared with us a story about her that was incredibly sweet and touching. She even said it was one of her favorite moments in all of her (23) years of teaching. 

She proceeded to tell us that she is trying to build the reading community in Averey's class, asking students to recommend books to their classmates. She said that one day, Averey chose the book, "Now One Foot, Now the Other" by Tomie dePaola, for a friend of hers. This classmate's father had suffered a debilitating stroke last winter, and the book was about a boy whose grandfather had a stroke. Her teacher had long forgotten about this book on the shelf, but apparently Averey had read it awhile ago, and according to Averey, she thought it would help her classmates understand what was going on with the girl's father.

Their teacher read the story, and she said that Averey sat next to her friend while the book was shared. The book went home with the girl, and she shared it with her mom and sister. They proceeded to take the book to Pittsburgh where her father is in rehab, and shared the story with family there.

I could tell by the emotion in her voice that she was really affected by this moment, and Jake and I were definitely touched. I'm not a mushy emotional mom (i.e. I don't cry on the first day of school, I didn't cry when my children were born), but it wasn't easy to maintain composure hearing that story.

Averey had never told us about that. I wouldn't have expected that anyway. I often find myself praying that she (and her sisters) will have a spirit of compassion, and in spite of hearing, "I want that! Why can't I do this? When can I do that?", I saw that moment as an answer to prayer. While she is a loving, helping big sister, I was beyond touched that she extended such a thoughtful gesture to someone outside of her family.

So when she's fighting with Kelsey, when she's whining about the food on her dinner plate, when she's overly dramatic about minor injuries, I will remember this story and treasure it forever.