Mom… Oops!! I Meant Mrs. Mom

Imagine this. You get home after a long day of solving math problems and diagramming sentences and sit down on the couch to finally relax. You have only been sitting down for five minutes and are about to doze off when your mom walks in and asks why you aren’t done with your chores yet. Juggling school and your life at home is difficult enough, but what happens when your parent and teacher are the same people?

The first time I had my mom in class I was in fifth grade. It was a disaster.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my mom, but having her in class was not the ideal situation. From pre-k until fourth grade, the school was my place separate from my parents.  It changed when my mom became part of my “school world.”  When I have my mom in class, I have to be on my best behavior at all times. Having a parent-teacher means that I cannot get away with anything. She always finds out the gossip of who I was bickering with that day and the homework assignment from Mr. Barney that I turned in late. I also have to share my mom with all of my classmates. They get her attention as well.  My mom knows everybody in the school.

Having a parent as a teacher at school is not all bad.  Although it is difficult to stay on top of everything, having my mom as my teacher keeps me in line. I try to keep my grades up and my assignments turned in, because I know if I slack off, I will be facing the consequences at home. Obviously, teachers are also really good at school work.  When I do have homework, my mom is there to help me if I am having trouble with it.

Most people think that being a teacher’s kid is all fun and games. Although having my own personal ATM wherever I go is great, there are some inconveniences. When the teachers have to be at school early for a meeting, so do I. Getting up and going to school earlier than I have to definitely isn’t my favorite thing to do.  The same thing goes with after school.  The bell rings and all of the students go home…except the kids whose parents are teachers.  We get to stay late as well.

I know what it is like having my mom as my teacher, but having to teach your own kid is probably a whole lot worse. My mom, Mrs. Dowell, said, “When I first taught my own kid in the fifth grade, it took a little getting used to, but it seems normal now.  It really doesn’t affect how I teach my class.  I try to give individual attention to all of my students.”

Having your mom as a teacher is not all that bad. In fact, I enjoy having my mom in class, but if there is one thing you never want to do it is have your mom as your coach. This year my mom decided to be the cross country coach. When your teacher, coach, and mom are all the same person, stuff happens. There was no escaping all the work I had to do. If I wasn’t busy doing homework or getting chores done, she would find me and have me run extra for cross country. With my mom being the coach everyone expected me to love cross country and be great at it. Neither one of these things turned out to be true.

I’m not the only kid from Canton who has a parent as a teacher. Jared Cox has his dad in math class. Beau Fuqua had his mom in class in the sixth grade. Braxton Thompson has had his mom as a teacher before as well.

“Having your parent as a teacher is interesting and different than having any other teacher in class because they can hit you and not get in trouble for it. Also when you get in trouble in class you’re in trouble for the rest of the day including after school which does get tiring. It is also really cool because she always reminds me of the things I have to do after school,” Beau Fuqua, freshman, said.

Being a teacher’s kid definitely has its downsides, but I don’t know what I would do without my mom around. It is well worth the extra ten minutes of sleep  I could be getting in the morning. What is it like to have my mom as a teacher? I don’t think I could survive high school without her.

Being a teacher’s kid has had its ups and downs but I have survived it so far. With any luck, I will have my mom in class until I graduate. I just wish she could be my roommate in college… if she would do my laundry… and still be my personal ATM.