Teacher's impactful message offers reassurance to every parent questioning themselves

With the excitement of becoming a parent comes the apprehension about being a good parent. Many moms delve into self-doubt over their parenting methods and their kids' milestones. To smash these parental qualms, one teacher penned a reassuring message so that the parents of the kids in her class knew what truly mattered about their child. Anna Mellor, a mom of two and a content creator who goes by @mellorlite on TikTok, shared this wholesome message in a video. Breaking into tears over the teacher's letter, the mom found it quite relatable and so did many other internet users.

Mellor started the video by saying, "If you're struggling with mom guilt, I have something for you." She then gave viewers a glimpse of the teacher's message and read it out loud, "When I look around my classroom, I couldn't tell you who crawled first, who walked before one or spoken sentences by fifteen months." The teacher added that they couldn't figure out which kids were breastfed and which ones were bottle-fed. They couldn't tell if a child was potty-trained by eighteen months nor were they aware of how the kids' mom chose to calm them when they cried. 

While these milestones weren't quite prominent, the teacher was able to observe certain aspects of the children's personalities that reflected good parenting. "When I look at my kids, I can tell which families value kindness and manners in their homes. I can tell when a child feels loved and secure at home. I know who has pizza and movies Friday nights and which mom reads in different voices for bedtime," the message read. From the way kids react to thunderstorms to how they speak to other children, the teacher could see how their parents have raised them. "When I look at my little friends, I don't see their milestones, I see who they are, their heart, their actions, their inner voice, their struggles and triumphs. I see you and all the love that you pour into them," they added. 

The message ended with an anecdote where a mom told the teacher during a parent-teacher conference, "I don't worry about all the reading and math, she'll get there. I want to know how she is as a person. Is she kind? Does she include others?" This struck a chord with Mellor who can't stop bawling at how moms are burdening themselves by comparing their child's milestones. "There's so much comparison," said Mellor. "I like to reflect on this letter that I found before I even became a mom because it reminds me of what really matters," she added. Over 356K views came in for this video and the message resonated with many internet users.

"As a teacher and a mother - this couldn’t be more true. Before all - love," said @missashleysky. "I needed this! My daughter is autistic and struggling severely in school but everyone says how kind she is. It will be ok," chimed in @jess.mae19. "My daughter's teacher told me that she isn’t the best reader but she is the first to go sit with the lonely kid or befriend the 'different' kid. Proud Mama," added @valerierenee.92.

You can follow Anna Mellor (@mellorlite) on TikTok for more family content.