School talk: new parent reception

Whoa! I am not good at small talk!

We had a reception last night for parents of kids new to the program. I was able to stand up and talk to this large group of people about issues in gifted education, no problem. I could do it all day. But when it came time to mingle, I was not a shining star.

I think I told no less than fifteen parents that their child was doing well and now that I think about it, that is a fine thing to say at this type of gathering. Not the time to go deep. What bothers me in retrospect is my forced enthusiasm. Not "Your child is doing well." Instead "Your child is doing so well!" Bold letter indicate cheerleader pep and energy. Not my usual style.

My final social triumph was the father who, after talking with me, grabbed his car keys and said with anger that he would wait for his wife in the car. He did come back to remind me that he is a tax payer and thus, pays my salary. The implication was that this is not money well spent. In my defense, the fellow was a tad angry and odd to begin with. Maybe I should have picked up on those social cues. But when he said, after expounding for quite some time about how rotten public education is, that "I know I'm opinionated but any teacher who lets her kids sit on the floor during school is doing a bad job", I just let it slip. I said "You know, I'm opinionated too and I have a lot of experience in education and on this one, you are wrong."

When I started writing this entry, I was feeling kind of bad about my performance last night. After rereading this, I'm feeling okay. I have more important things to concern me than this. So there.

"Pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and get to work"

I'm home sick today and so I was able to watch the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama as president of the United States. That's our president's name and he is an African American. That still amazes me. That still moves me.

The self-proclaimed "skinny black kid" gave an amazing speech, one in which he spoke of the hard work ahead but also of the strength of the American people to face hard work. He spoke of our patchwork population, of our shared history, of our shared hopes. I was moved by his words and by his demeanor. I was moved by the crowd, by the music, by the history.

I know that Obama being sworn in will not right all wrongs, will not fix everything, will not change the way things are. But I think this is a new direction for our country. I know that change comes slowly but I also know that change comes. A woman as Speaker of the House, a black man as President...earlier in my life these would not have been possible. Now they are. Change is possible, change is necessary and I believe that change is on its way.

Two posts in one day?

Apparently every year the President pardons a Thanksgiving turkey (?). I know. I've missed it too. Well, I'm all for some Presidential high jinx if it provides a photo opportunity like this one:
Is that turkey (the bird) doing what I think he is?