“Mom,” exclaimed a surprised Tyler. “What are you doing here?” “I’m the parent helper for today, silly,” his mom teased him. “That’s not what I mean; why didn’t you tell me you were helping today?” he asked her. “I thought it would be more fun if I surprised you,” she told him.

Tyler then heard a voice say, “Peek boo!” Tyler laughed when he realized that his little brother Connor was there, too. Tyler hadn’t been able to see him sitting in his stroller because he was behind their mom.

“Our parent helper for today is Tyler’s mom, Mrs. Landley,” Miss Nell informed the class. “She’s going to be helping you with the reading part of today’s lesson.” Miss Nell then went on to say that the group that Tyler is in could do their reading first. Tyler couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t going to have to wait until he got home for his mom to read his library book. She could read it right now!

They all got settled at a table but before Tyler’s mom could get started his brother said, “Hi, Tyler!” Only his brother couldn’t say the ‘l’ sound so it sounded like ‘Tywer’. All the kids thought it was cute and they giggled. Encouraged by the giggles, Connor looked at the other students and said, “Hi boy, hi girl!” Then they all really started laughing.

“Mom, I want you to read my book,” Tyler told his mom. Mrs. Landley was able to get them to settle down by asking them each their name. Katie said, “Whose mom are you?” “I’m Tyler’s mom,” Mrs. Landley answered her. “Oh, yeah, I forgot!” giggled Katie. Mrs. Landley said, “Let’s start reading!” She read Tyler’s library book. They took their time with each page so they could look at the pictures. They also took turns pointing to words that they recognized and they attempted to read them.

Before they knew it, it was time to leave the reading table and move on to the two tables where Miss Nell was helping them with their rhyming & writing lessons. All the students in Tyler’s group said goodbye to Tyler’s mom and brother. They were all rewarded with Connor saying, “Bye boy, bye girl!” Tyler’s mom told him that she would say goodbye before she left. He said, “Okay,” and he went to find a seat at Miss Nell’s table.

As Tyler did his work he could hear Connor greet each group that came to his mom’s table with, “Hi boy, hi girl!” Each group thought it was just as funny as the first group. Tyler was glad that everyone liked his baby brother.

While they were working on their writing project, Aleisha said, “Tyler, it’s no fair! You have a baby brother; I don’t have any brothers or sisters.” “You don’t? How come?” asked Miranda. “I don’t know; I just don’t,” answered Aleisha. Brian chimed in, “I don’t have any brothers or sisters either.” Now Miranda was even more surprised. She thought everyone had a brother or a sister. Katie expertly informed them that even though she has two sisters she knew that some families have only one kid.

When Miss Nell went over to the other table to answer a child’s question, Aleisha asked, “How do you get a baby brother or sister?” Miranda answered, “My parents got my little brother at the hospital.” “Hey, my parents got my little sister at the hospital, too,” said Katie. “That’s funny!” “It is,” agreed Miranda. “Maybe all babies come from the hospital.” “I have an idea!” Katie said to Aleisha. “Why don’t you ask your parents to go to the hospital and get a baby for you?” “Just make sure you tell them to pick a sister,” Miranda advised. “I don’t know why my mom picked a brother.”

“Okay, gang, we need to finish up,” Miss Nell told them. She then rang a bell to let them know that the lesson time was over. She told them to bring the papers that they had written and to have a seat on the Circle Time rug. Tyler’s mom was getting her stuff together as Miss Nell told Tyler that since his mom was there he could go first. Tyler then read what Miss Nell had helped him write, “I’m glad my mom helped at school, I think it’s really cool!” Tyler’s mom smiled and waved as she and Connor left the classroom. Then from out in the hallway the entire class could hear Connor say, “Bye, Tywer!” And they all giggled.