Wicked witch

I've been in the education field for almost 12 years. 

I've seen every kind of parent imaginable and even some your wildest dreams couldn't even conjure up. 

I am not a parent. I could dilute myself into thinking I'm mommy to my beloved parrot but I don't see the point. 

I may never know what it's truly like to have my own child and truly experience the vastness that parenthood is. On this matter I'm ambivalent. 

But if there is one fact that cannot be disputed it's that I know children in a professional capacity. 

I don't think it hinders my ability to teach, care for, and form attachments with my students. I've seen parents who make incredible teachers and parents who are teachers but would be better suited to bagging groceries. We're all human and we all have our strengths and weaknesses. 

Today, just when I thought I'd seen it all I was attacked by a parent. 

Why? You might ask. For wanting to clarify to what degree her child wasn't able to participate in our Halloween festivities. 

I pity this parent to whom I refer to as parent as only to clarify that the child in this situation is biologically hers. I do not consider her a parent. 

To be a parent by my definition you have to put your child's needs above yours no matter what circumstance you are playing victim to. 

As this parent screamed at me, child on her hip, questioning my ability to read, proclaiming I was stupid, and trying to be the child's father who had recently met his untimely but now understandable demise, the room around me started to slow down. 

I looked at the child and I was shocked that she didn't so much as bat an eyelash at her mother swearing and giving a tongue lashing to another adult. 

How tragic that this child has this adult and this adult only as a role model. 

My mother was and is a single mother herself. I look up to her because of the examples she set before me and I became the respectful person I am today by being taught early on yelling, screaming, and verbally abusing someone wasn't always the appropriate way to deal with a situation. Sometimes compassion, understanding, and putting yourself in that person’s shoes would get you farther. 

As I repeated what my intention was by sending out a mass text to all parents about our Halloween festivities over and over it became increasingly clear to me this women had no intention of breaking the cycle of victimization and verbal abuse. 

She, no matter what I do or say or suggest, is going to take a sweet innocent child and make her toxic just like herself. 

Her opinion of me really has no baring on how I see myself as an educator. Her child isn't even my student. If calling me stupid and questioning whether or not I had basic skills and abilities makes her feel better about herself what can I do? 

I could spit out a baker’s dozen of insults right back but I don't want to show her child that everyone in the world is like her mother.