My team went to the champion chips...

Yes, that's right. Yet another humorous entry in a student's college essay. Yes, COLLEGE essay. I'm just not even sure that there's anything else to say about that. I mean where you do you go from there? Can't top that. Unless maybe you were to offer me a champion chip cookie.

What's my job anyway?

So today I made a parent cry. Yes, that's right...C-R-Y. And what's worse is that it was in front of an office full of people. I can honestly say that was a new experience for me. Then, after the tears started pouring down her perfectly painted cheeks, she started pouring out all of her frustrations about her child and her work. I'm trained to work with kids. I've even practiced counseling some of my friends (sometimes with great success and sometimes with disasterous consequences). But, NEVER, and I repeat NEVER, have I had to be the shoulder for a crying parent...an adult. Yes, I may be twenty-five, but no, I do not consider myself an adult. Sometimes I feel like my problems are so petty that they are actually more like those of my fourteen year old students than of these forty year old parents. I'm not qualified to give real adult advice.

What am I supposed to say to the mother who wants sympathy from me about the difficulties of raising a child while being responsible for an entire department at her office? What am I supposed to say to the mother who is crying her eyes out because her only child is pulling away from her as he enters high school? What am I supposed to say to the mother who is trying to raise her child and maintain her career without the help of her child's father?

Well, I sat in my chair across from her, offered her a tissue, composed a thorough and thoughtful response in my head, opened my mouth and said, "have you talked to the counselors here? They might be able to help." Talk about passing the buck. See, there's more of the fourteen year old in me and less of the adult.

I think it's my job to grow up. Time to get back to work.