A Fairy Tale?

Check this out. Could it be a true story or is it a fairy tale?

In a day and age when we micromanage our children's lives from their extracurricular activities down to their choice of socks, it is certainly the sign of "a good mom" to do some serious jockeying for position when it comes to teacher placement. Fill out your parent input form. Say a couple words to the right people. Possibly send some effectively worded and well timed emails just in case. While trying not to appear to be too pushy, still making it known what our child wants, what our child needs.

But today, I got a look in mirror, mirror on the wall. Who's the humblest of them all? Here's the story:

A sweet young mom I know had a dream-of-a-teacher for her precious, little kindergartener. It was to be a fairy tale come true. That is, until 5 days before school started when that dream of a teacher moved to a new school district. Ugh.

So, my friend's prized daughter instantly went from having a Cinderella of a teacher to having to spend a year with one of the wicked stepsisters. Brand new, surprisingly young, terribly inexperinced, and embarrassingly unassertive. Little to no classroom materials. Not a whole lot of ideas. It was a sad situation indeed.

The teacher had not a shred more than the gumption it was to take her to gut it out each and every day with 25 little kindergarteners who undoubtedly could smell the new blood in the classroom. And not their own.

Most moms in this world would sing "Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's off the principal's office I go." They would document the reasons why their little geniuses should be moved. Yesterday. They would stew, possibly sue and certainly stir up a brew of fears for others.

But this mom is different.

Different than the world.

She didn't reach for her magic lamp.

She didn't long for the carpet ride out of there.

Well, I must admit she did consider it. She and her husband thought that their bright young child certainly deserved more, even imagining that maybe they should take this young child and move her temporarily to a private school, where she would receive the instruction she needed.

But upon reflection and with much prayer, this beautiful princess mom and her prince of a husband decided on something so different, so outlandish, so amazing... it almost seems to be something out of a fairy tale...They decided that they would take the money that they would have spent on a private education and invest it into this young teacher. They spent the weekend shopping for things that this young lady will need. It wasn't about what their child wanted, what their child needed. It wasn't about themselves. There was a bigger picture. It was and will be about serving someone else, regardless of what that person is going to do for them. So though it sounds like folklore, I must tell you that this story is true. It is real. And it's better than any fairy tale than I have ever heard. It is a blessing to me to hear it. It is a blessing to share it. And there is no doubt it will bless the lives of this young family, their children, and the young teacher for years to come.