It doesn’t stay open forever.
I didn’t realize it back then. I couldn’t imagine that my children wouldn’t always be mesmerized by my insights and wisdom. I wasn’t prepared for my window of mom influence to narrow and at times slam shut.
I was teaching middle school at my kids’ private Christian school. Molly was eight, Micah was five.
They loved having their mom teach at their school. They bragged about it. They visited my classroom every chance they got. They’d call out and wave frantically to me from the playground as I walked by.
Molly would beg me repeatedly, “Please don’t quit teaching at my school until after I’m out of middle school. I want you to be my teacher!”
Back then, they both wanted my instruction. Craved it. I was in a league all my own. Friends, texting, Twitter and social activity weren’t yet fierce competitors for their minds and hearts. The window of mom influence was wide open.
Fast forward five years to 2008. Molly is in 7th grade. And I’m in the fight of my life for any shred of a voice in her life. The thought of me being her teacher (I wasn’t) completely horrifies her. I’m in a league of my own now, alright. I’m a pariah—at least for a little while.
The same phenomenon occurs a few years later when her brother hits 7th grade.
