I never know on walking in to a parent teacher conference how I will feel walking out. I’ve walked in feeling like all is fine and left with a pile of new worries. I’ve arrived with pressing concerns and departed feeling relieved. I’ve had conferences where the teacher and I had nothing much to do but smile and agree all is going well. Then there are the times where the teacher and I talk for a very long time discussing options and trying to define the shape of the challenges. Sometimes those long conversations result in a moment of inspiration when one of us suddenly sees an answer that makes everything else fall into a workable plan. Other times we run out of words and sit across the table wishing we had an answer to go along with our commiseration. I’ve had teachers who work with me as a coordinated team and others where every conversation felt like a missed catch, lots of words but no connection. Parent teacher conferences are fraught. I had three of them today. They each gave me insights into the child and the teachers. The new insights have given me new things to do for my kids and some new things not to do anymore. The impact to my workload is minimal, but shifting habit patterns is always a challenge. Contemplating the need to change habit patterns while tired and brain fried is exhausting. Time to sleep and think about it all again tomorrow.