When you leave your kids with someone for many hours a day, you want to make sure he or she is a kind and loving person. You want to make sure that person will properly discipline, will teach and engage, and mostly, that will love on your kids. We want someone who will love our kids for who they are and encourage their growth. Our kids’ teachers epitomize this. 

Teachers work so hard and often don’t get the thanks they deserve.

So, to end this school year, I want teachers to know we are thankful. 

Thank you for always having a snack for the days our pantry was bare or none of the breakfast options filled our kids up. And thank you for that extra snack for Little Brother. 

Thank you for recognizing when kids need that extra hug, or an extra moment of connection. So many kids go to school with their love tanks on empty and you always find a way to send them home with a full tank. 

Thank you for noticing which kids may not have the best home life and for taking special care of them when they are with you. 

Thank you for being so excited to hear about our weekend and Uncle Ben’s friend’s cousin’s dog who was at a birthday party. Not only did you listen to the story about people you don’t know, but you were excited to hear it. 

Thank you for pushing our kids to do hard things, but recognizing when to take a step back and slow down.

Thank you for teaching them heads-up, seven-up, basketball, special handshakes, how to do the monkey bars, and how to play with their friends. Thank you for teaching them responsibly, perseverance, and how to enjoy learning. 

Thank you for the class parties, birthday cupcakes, the million times you sang the ABCs, helping with bathroom breaks, and making sure everyone got a smile that day. 

Thank you for the notes of encouragement and letting us know how well our kids are doing. And thank you for the notes that let us know they may need a little extra help with certain sight words or math problems. You have so many kids to take care of and we appreciate the care you give to each one. 

Thank you for taking pictures of class parties or field trips we couldn’t attend. We don’t always get a chance to know every detail of the school day and we appreciate being part of the fun. 

Thank you for being awake so early and greeting us with smiles. And thank you for staying so late after school to prepare for the next day. We know so many times after school you didn’t get to head home to relax, but instead had to go shopping for supplies or go to another meeting. 

Thank you for taking time from your own family to ensure our kids had the best school experience they could possible have. You sacrifice so much for school kids and it doesn’t go unnoticed. 

Thank you for coming to that Saturday basketball game or the birthday party you received an invitation to. We hope you know just how special it was for them to see you walk in. 

Thank you for being patient with our kids when we had a rough morning getting to school and they were grumpy. We all have bad days. Some kids have many bad days and you always had a hug to make them better. 

Thank you for keeping 28 kids confined in a room after the ice-cream party with extra sugar on top. Thank you for playing inside recess games when the weeks of rain came. We know that couldn’t have been easy. 

Thank you for teaching them the academics, but more importantly, the social skills of love and kindness. 

We parents notice how much work you put into your classroom and your kids. We notice the decorations, the extra supplies, the unpaid hours of work, and the sacrifice. We notice how many cups of coffee you drink and how few bathroom breaks you get. We know you think of these kids as your own. We see it and we appreciate it. 

I could list a million things you did this year to help our kids grow and how you enriched their lives. We hope you know how special you are to us and how memories from your class will last a lifetime. 

But more than anything, thank you for loving our kids.

Your job is not easy. Not one little bit. And we thank you for doing it day-in-and-day-out. We are thankful for you this school year and will be for years to come.

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