Dear Kinder Teacher, Please Remember I'm Handing My Heart To You

The school year 2024-2025 has officially started in many schools. For new school parents, their children taking their first steps into the classroom is a bittersweet journey. All the years they spent caring for their little ones led to this moment of letting go and entrusting their children to teachers—their second parents. 

A mom's open letter to her child's preschool teacher

Dear Teacher,

It's been a few weeks since my child started attending kindergarten classes. She just turned five last month, making it to Department of Education's cut-off for Kinder students. She's a first-time schooler, which makes me a first-time school mom.

Since then, I never knew that hatid-sundo could still fit my already busy schedule as a working mom. I thought my days were already packed with meetings, deliverables, and chores. I can barely make time for self-care, but now, I find myself unable to snooze my morning alarm because I need to get my daughter ready and prepare her lunch box with my daily attempts at a bento baon. My husband and I's late-night Netflix binges are a thing of the past.

At 7:30 AM, I wake her up by playing her favorite Frozen song, then she puts on the clothes we prepared last night. Before we leave, she eats cereal with milk while I fix her hair, usually in pigtails or braids if I'm feeling confident with the time.

^{From white booties to black school shoes—where did my baby go?}

My husband or I drive her to school each day. This brief journey, between our home and school, is deeply cherished. As I drop her off by the gate, I wait until I see you, dear Teacher, meet her gaze. That look is my cue to give her my last set of flying kisses, let her go, and pick her up after three hours.

For three hours, you replace me, Teacher. In exchange, I have three hours of silence at home or at the coffee shop, where I can finally do some deep work while sipping a hot drink or a decent breakfast that is not made from leftovers. God knows I've been waiting for moments of peace and calm like this. But I keep checking the time, not because I want to stay longer. It's because, truth be told, I already miss my baby. 

^{Doing some deep work at a coffee shop while waiting for my Kindergartner to need me again}

At 11:30 AM, when I pick her up, I hug her, and she reserves her stories for lunchtime, so she can tell me and her Tatay what went on during her day. 

She would then tell us what her classmates' baons were, what books they read, and what activities they did. What melted our hearts was when she recounted their roles in class, like being the day's Line Leader, Weather Reporter, Little Teacher, or Chair Monitor. 

My little baby, who once never wanted to leave my breast, is now assigned to return the chairs she and her classmates used in class. My toddler, who used to play pretend with her stuffed toys, now stands in front of a class, writing the weather on the board. My tiny tot, whom I read books to every night, borrows books from the library and ensures she doesn't miss the return date. 

^{Reunited after three hours}

Every single day, without fail, she says that school was fun. It is all thanks to you, dear Teacher, and her classmates whom she misses when she isn't in school. She's never prayed so hard for the rains and typhoons to stop, just because she wants to see everyone again.

She likes to talk about you, Teacher, and she can't stop singing the new song you taught them. She tells me about storybook characters I haven't met, and I'm still in the process of memorizing the names of her classmates whom she already shared snacks and built relationships with. Even her scent is different now, and I'm still getting used to it.

Teacher, for five years, I was the only Teacher Nanay my child knew. But now with you, she is widening her horizons, learning things that are no longer from me, and experiencing hard things that I never thought she could do without me. 

^{My dear baby is now a preschooler. I'm learning to accept this fact.}

Teacher, I entrust my baby to you. Since we brought her home after 20 days in the hospital, I've never left her side except for a 5-day Bangkok trip I so guiltily made earlier this year. She knows words like hunyango and hinlalaki now, and answers quizzes and activities I didn't make. 

After spending five years with her 24/7, now I don't have control over the three hours that she's in your classroom. But I trust you, because as I talk to her after every class, her body is exhausted from all the playing and the learning yet she remains keen on sharing all the details about her fun days in school. These fun days were with her classmates and with you, Teacher.

I can't imagine how you manage to care for 12 children, including mine, for three hours each day, but trust me, you are doing amazing. Thank you, Teacher, for being a guiding light in my daughter's new journey. With your support and nurturing, I know she will grow into someone who can change the world.

Your dedication and commitment mean the world to her, and to us.

Please remember: As my child heads to school each day, I'm handing you my heart.

Love, 

Nanay Judy

Judy Santiago Aladin is a section editor of Smart Parenting, and a soon-to-be mother of two.

This letter was inspired by the article, "Dear Kindergarten Teacher, I’m Giving You My Baby," by Jessica Wanner.