Thank them Thursday

This is day four of Teacher Appreciation Week. Monday's flowers were a huge hit. The Teachers oohed and awed over the treat cart that we took around school Tuesday. Wake-up Wednesday's breakfast went off without a hitch! But of all the days this week today is my favorite. Thank You Thursday. Today we are going to distribute Thank You Books to all the teachers.

Getting the pages for these books back has not been easy. Only one class out of 30 has 100% participation. BUT the pages that have come in are so amazing! My friend Emily and I have had the privilege of reading through these books as we put them together. No two pages look the same. Some kids made big drawings. Some wrote letters. Some added pictures of themselves. Some parents wrote letters.

One little first grader cracked us up by writing "I thought I knew it all, I didn't.." One kindergartener drew her teacher (who is pregnant) with a baby sticking out her belly button waving. A third grade girl wrote "Thanks for teaching me good and helping pass the TAKS. I would have never made it without you" A second grader wrote "Next to my Mom, grandma and Hillary Duff, you are my favorite woman in the world!" And a fourth grader told her teacher if she is ever "a millionair"she will owe it all to her and she will buy her a house. Then there was a letter from the father of a little boy whose Mom died just before school started. I can't even start to type about the letter with out tearing up. His child's teacher is a friend of mine and I know how deeply she will be touched by the words of this sweet sorrow-filled yet incredibly grateful man. She will keep that letter forever.

Saying thank you is so important. I know Teacher Appreciation Week seems like another one of those obligatory PTA events on the calendar, but this week has been more than that for me. A teacher who has not smiled at me all year walked up and thanked me profusely for everything we have done this week. I almost fell over. I watched a room mom who hasn't been to nice to anyone all year tear up and morph into a different person when she read the letter a mom she hasn't liked all year. The letter so sweetly thanked the teacher for helping her child with a severe learning disorder. Gratitude changes people. It changes the giver and receiver...And in ways it changes those of us who just stand back and watch.

I told you this Appreciation thing is a soapbox of mine, and it is! But only because I know that I need to incorporate an attitude of gratitude deeper into my everyday life. Somes days are hard and gratitude seems the last thing I need to think about. But those are the days I need to try harder than ever to count my blessings and more importantly, express my gratitude in words and actions. Gratitiude transforms the heart. Stepping down now...

So tomorrow we have a big Fiesta at noon to end out our week of Teacher Appreciation. The PTA job that has taken so much of my time and energy for two years will basically be over. I can't say I'm not happy to have an end in sight, but I am so glad we have done all we have done this year! I love my daughters school, and more than that, I love the teachers and staff there. They have become my friends. I feel so secure in sending Kolby up there everyday because I know I am sending her to people who love children, who work hard, and who will do whatever it takes to teach my little girl what she needs to know. That is priceless!

I hope you all have had a great week. I haven't had the chance to check in on most of you with all the commotion around here. I have sorta missed you guys! But I will catch up next week! Happy Thursday!