I just came back from a second day of school observations for the kids. For the uninitiated, School Observation Day is when you are allowed twenty minutes to sit in the back of your kid's classroom and watch a class in progress. It's pretty much the only time that you ever get to see the classroom, so it's a real learning experience. Honestly, I usually walk out the room and say to myself, "I could never do that."

It's a real treat to see your kid outside the house. Does he raise his hand? Is he shy? Does he have peanut butter smeared around his mouth?

But the best part of the experience comes after you have tip-toed into the classroom and found a folding chair in the back of the room. Neither Jonah, nor Ian, saw me tip-toe in, but when they spied me, they had similar reactions. Ian said "Oh" and got a big smile on his face. Then he kept looking around and giving me sly smiles. Making sure that I was still there.

Jonah has been reminding me every day for a week about School Observation Day. He never recovered from the year that I forgot to go. Bad mother. Scarred for life. When he finally saw me in the back of the room, he was more cool about the smiles than Ian, but he also kept doing the backwards glances. The thought bubbles over his head read, "that's my mommy."