Grade Night

I'm sitting right now at Grade night (or parent teacher night in some parts of the world), and thanks to the beauty of wireless internet and my mobile tablet, I'm writing this as I wait for a parent to sit down. But, seeing how I'm part-time, I don't have nearly the parent load I used to have.

But, that's not the point. The point is that I have seen at least three parents tonight that I swear are younger than I am. I am looking at a guy at a neighboring table who is talking to one of the math teachers. He's young, hip, wears an earring, and has a goatee. He looks about 30, maybe even 29. And he's not alone. I actually had a parent sit down to talk about her student, and she didn't introduce herself as the mom, so I thought she was the older sister sitting in as a proxy.

Gone are the days where my students see me as hip, in the know, or even close to being "one of them" (I was never "one of them," by the way). My students are almost 20 years younger than I am, so I guess it should come as no surprise that I am starting to look more like their parents than I am them.

But, I'm still freakin' out here. I'm 33. These people can't be much older. But they're having conversations about geometry grades and college options while I am talking about pooping in the potty, big boy beds, and covering one's mouth when coughing.