Meeting Ms. Stern

There are two types of parents at parent-teacher conferences: the calms ones and the nervous ones. Kim and I are polar opposites. She is most definitely the calm one.

That night, parents converged on Hillside Elementary to find out how their kids were doing in class. Now, we consider ourselves well-informed parents who stay involved with their children, so deep down I knew that we would find that Ethan was exemplary, no different from any other teacher meeting we've been to. But I was pacing. I looked at projects posted along the hallway without paying attention to them. I stared at my shoes. I examined the tiles on the floor.

They had brought out chairs from inside the classroom for the waiting parents. A volunteer student from the honor society sat by the door to take down names. Kim sat in one of the chairs, patient, content as can be; she was the rational one. Once in the while, she would smile at me. She had long given up trying to talk to me during these times. Instead, she talked to the parents of one of Ethan's classmates.

I wondered if Ethan was doing well in class. All his homework was done correctly--we made sure of that, but was he participating in class? Was he well-behaved? He was a great son, but you never knew how kids were away from their parents sometimes. All sorts of irrational thoughts floated in my head, from potential boarding schools to tutoring services. I admit it. I can be neurotic.

It was when I was imagining Ethan in school gang that Ms. Stern appeared at the door and checked the sign-in sheet.

"Mr. and Mrs. Chang?"

We smiled, shook hands, and walked inside.