Crying season...

3 April 2024: Accidentally made a very sweet, smart, and hard-working student cry today when I asked how her mom (who has been in the hospital) is doing. Her mom is coming home today, which is great, but there's a long road ahead for the family and the poor kid is just dragging. She'd had a hard day, too. "I didn't want to cry," she kept saying. "I told myself I wasn't going to cry." 

Of course, it's fine that she cried. And I sure do get it. This time of the semester--even when there aren't personal crises unfolding--students (and their teachers--ha!) are on edge. There's a special kind of "edge" for high-achieving students that I am particularly sympathetic to. 

I think I made her feel as okay as I could, but I also just wanted to give her some cocoa and send her to bed. Poor, sweet kid. I said to myself that maybe this is more evidence that I wouldn't have been cut out for parenting; if I had a kid like this one, my heart would just break every time she was so upset.