Do you carry the Dr. Seuss Book into the Classroom?
Are you that parent?
Will you be that parent?
Who saw a reel or story online about parents having their childs teacher write a personal message into a copy of Dr. Seuss’s? Yup, that is me! When our oldest was in preschool, a fellow room parent mentioned the idea and then I saw an insta post about a parents experience handing over a copy of ‘Oh! The Places We Will Go’ by Dr. Seuss. Well let me tell you, this it’s not as easy as you think to complete. I commend and question the lengths these parents went to get these notes from teachers.
After 15 years of working on all three kids books, the dialogue online is shifting away from parent’s and their proud moments handing the book to their child, to the teachers now hitting social media with “I hate signing this book” or it’s on the top of the “Worse Parent Request List” posts highlighting this practice. If am being honest. It’s a nightmare task for teachers and parents. The first problem for a parent is to remember to complete the task, EVERY YEAR for 15 years. Was or am I successful in doing this task? “Define success” is my response to that question.
There are several stories I can pull from, in asking teachers to sign the book. Many of which were interesting in their own right. Some seemed very genuine they wanted to sign it and they really wrote some long and beatiful messages for Paley. Many really sharing moments between the two of them and many sharing thoughts on what kind of journey she would layout for herself. Instead of diving in those stories, I figured I might share lessons learned, just in case you decide to take on this adventure. The stories are personal, some are really touching and some a just funny. Like her Girl Scout leaders “Top 20 College Tips”, more on that below. I digress, on to my rules for this task.
Rule 1: One Teacher A Year - This is obviously a super easy rule during the preschool and elementary years. In Middle and High School this rule is a must follow. Each year you are dealing from 4-7 teaches and finding the one, is hard enough. My go to question mid-year was “Who are your favorite teachers this year?” That question then became a road map. I even created a spreadsheet to help me manage who were my go to teachers. Trust me you will forget, and yes, the teacher will forget, see rule three below. More importantly, try to grab some face to face time with the teacher. This will not only improve your repore with the teacher but helps you build more connection with the staff.
Rule 2: Don’t Worry About Forgetting the task during the school year. After you finish a couple of years or grades. You will start to find yourself forgetting about the task of getting the teacher to sign the book or share a personal message. Late into Elementary school you might find yourself remembering the task, and then you end up with two asks in one year. Don’t feel guilty going back to a teacher and asking them to write something. I did it! Going back 3 or 5 years is a task on itself. More important, don’t worry about the teacher forgetting. It’s bound to happen at some point. Give the teacher time. But if they stop replying to your email requests, or you get up to three, “oh yes I will get on that right away, I am so sorry,” Then it’s time to let it fall to waist side in asking that teacher to sign the book.
Rule 3: Never Handover the Book! I began this journey by handing the book to the teachers sometime in the Spring. And at first, I was pretty good at remember by the end of the year to ask for the book back. Then life happens, or in my case COVID happened. The kids were in 6th and 1st grade when COVID hit the planet. I skipped asking for the teacher to sign the book that year,, and waited until we were finally back in person for a full school year. At that point the twins were now in Third grade and Paley was in 8th grade. I returned to my usual pattern of handing over the books for the twins, to get 3 years of teachers to sign the books. Sadly one book was lost because on teacher was retiring and was in a cleaning out mode, and ended up throwing out the book. I won’t lie, I was completely devastated because I had lost 4 years of 6 teachers signing the book. It would take me almost 2 years to rebuild the book. Did that teacher sign the second book? Of course, she is one of our favorite teachers. It was compeltely an accident and honestly, it was completely my fault. As I said, putting that kind of task or pressure on a teacher is a lot. It happened, and I recovered from it. Which leads us to the next rule.
Rule 4: Write A Note, on Note Paper! I don’t care if it’s on scented paper or simply a post-it note. The solution for rule 3 is to have the teacher handwrite a message on a piece of paper, or simply send one over email/text and you can print it out. This allows you to keep hold of the book and you can then add the messages, one by one, when they are received. Rebuilding that book was 100 times easier with this new solution. While Paley & Lochlan’s books have hand written notes in the book. Just having something written on whatever paper is a gift in itself. I had to go back to all 6 teachers and beg them to write a special note that was lost for good. I was so worried about they wouldn’t remember my student, and rest assured all of them remembered and really went above an beyond. Most impressive were all six of the preschool teachers that were long gone from the school and area. A couple of them I had kept in touch with were easy to ask, but those two were my saving grace, connecting me to two other teachers. I even got a photo of them all at lunch they had a chatted about my reach outs.
While the rules help you with the process, seeing the notes is truly an amazing feeling. I tried to not to read the messages because I wanted them to be a treat for my kids. I did read a few but just connecting with the teachers when they talked about their notes, was magical or even unique. One of those educators was actually one of Paley’s scout leaders. Her contribution was a list of College Tips from personal experience. #13 Set a Timer When Doing Laundry - I personally believe is relevant even past college into you late 20’s or until you move into your first house. Your forgotten laundry will either walk away or end up on the floor, from personal experience. Heck, I’ve walked by my laundry sitting on a table a few days, after finally realizing it’s mine. I might have to steal this idea for grad gifts, because she’s now an empty-nester, and would love to keep spreading this brilliant knowledge.
In the end, we handed our senior year graduate her finished book, and if I am being honest, I probably deserve an “F” for delivery or presentation. Listen I am not one of the parents who can decorate and put on show for my kids on a small holiday. Yes, I design, manage, host, execute 500+ person events real easily but at home, I set the bar low. I have plenty of friends who I envy and commend for taking things to a whole new level. If you are about to disagree with me, I have insta feeds that are far more curated than my own. I did wrap a ribbon on the book, and set it out on the dinning table that Paley had setup as display from her collection of school work over the last 15 years. We were so busy trying to get the house setup for the Grad Open House party we were hosting, she was doing a quick look over the table and noticed the book. As I was cleaning the kitchen, I heard “What is this?”, and turned to find her holding the book. I know how depressing, but it actually turned into a very beautiful moment where Clem and I stood with her while she opened the book. There were some tears and before I could complete saying, “You don’t have to put it out for display table,” she promptly finished my sentence, “..no this is going in my room!”
If you decide to undergo this task, you commend you, and it will not be easy pull it off. It is worth it in the end, and considering the reaction we got, well worth the time and frustration. There will be moments you feel like you have failed, don’t worry about playing catch up, and begging. More importantly, if a teacher says yes, and stops responding after your first reminder of your request. Release the teacher back into the universe. If it’s mean’t to be, they will remember or complete their to do item one day in the future. Some are just trying to be kind, and the lack of response is just their way of saying, no thank you! And that’s perfectly fine. These poor teachers get these requests every year, and a majority come begging the last few weeks of school. I was guilty of that, the lost book, because I didn’t realize until the new school year, that I left the two books with a group of teachers to sign. It was an honest mistake in the end. My only other advice. Don’t buy anyhting other than book itself. In writing this post I found that there are people who are selling products online to compelte this task. For example, create a PDF info image, that are instruction for the teacher.
Good luck, and stick to Rule 4. Fight the urge. Be honest, you can’t control your forgetfulness or that of others. Was it worth all the work, most certainly was. Seeing her face when she just read one message, provided enough emotions in my cold heart!