Dear Teacher, What Would You Like to Know?

Hey mommas, guess what? You survived the beginning of school! Sure, you may have cried the first day … and the second. But I’m sure by now you know things are going to be alright!

As a sort of new mom myself, almost 3 years into parenting, I still wonder what I should and shouldn’t say to my son’s teacher. My son is adopted, mixed race, and has a very diverse background. I often feel it’s best to prepare teachers in advance of conversations that might happen, but am I saying too much?

I want to prepare EVERYONE for topics that might come up when talking to my son. When he speaks about his brother, but his brother doesn’t live with us, that raises questions. His brother was adopted by another wonderful family and together, we maintain their relationship. When my son tells his friends he has a brother, they often wonder where we’re hiding him. Other simple questions, like when you ask him where he got his name, his answer would be “from a judge.”

So as a mom, I often wonder, what would his teacher want to know? In Pre-K, my husband and I spilled the beans. All the beans. We cried with the teacher as we discussed our son’s past, all the topics that might come up, and prepared his teacher for some hard conversations that might come her way.

When we entered kindergarten, we let things happen. There were definitely some hard days. When the teacher asked for baby pics, well, we do not have any. That was a hard day with lots of questions.

As we begin first grade, I’m torn. Our son knows his past. He knows things most kids do not, and has experienced things most kids (thankfully) will not. I want to stop sharing our story but so much of his past is still part of his present.

I know the same can be true for a lot of moms that want to share important details about their child(ren). So teacher, I ask, what is it that you would like to know?

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Traci Pecot
NOLA born and raised, Traci moved to Lafayette in 2005 to pursue a career in corporate marketing. She married her husband Ryan in 2010 and adopted her son, now 8, in 2016. Today, along with being a full time mom, she owns and operates a dog daycare, boarding and grooming facility in Lafayette. She and her husband maintain a part-time residence in NOLA, spending weekends "home" visiting family and friends. Avid sports fan, dog obsessed, wanna be distance runner (finishing just one half-marathon), and adoption enthusiast, she looks forward to adding "blog contributor" to her lists of accomplishments.