About Heather Camlot
A freelance writer, crafts junkie and mom of two, Heather Camlot is constantly on the lookout for that elusive work-life balance she hears so much about. Read about Heather's never ending search for five minutes to herself while trying to meet deadlines, make the school bus and raise two fantastic children.
Being the (occasionally) involved mommy that I am, last week I went to Juliana’s junior kindergarten class for show and tell. The topic for the month is “professions” and I was there to talk about being a journalist.
Fortunately, I had attended Samsung’s 2011 digital camera press event that morning (moms, take a look at the PL121!) so I was actually dressed like a professional, rather than my traditional home office wear of torn jeans, ratty sweatshirt and oversize slippers. I even took the blow-dryer to my hair. Ah, the lengths we’ll go to not embarrass our children.
When I showed up at the classroom door, it was Juliana’s friend Vivian A. who ran up and hugged me. Juliana hadn’t even taken notice. Hmmm. Finally, the kids yelled, “Juliana, your mother is here,” and she looked up and came over. She didn’t notice my hair.
She took my hand and we all sat in a circle in one corner of the classroom. I pulled out the tools of the trade – notebook, pen and camera – explained what I do as a journalist and what other types of journalists do, and then Juliana passed around a couple of magazines I had written for. The issue of Style at Home had a picture of me and for a minute I felt like a celebrity as one child said, “Oh, it’s her!” I asked if anyone had any questions so far and Vivian raised her hand. “Can Juliana come over to my house?”
The taste test
Then the moment Juliana had been waiting for. I pulled out a press kit that I had received from Dare for the company’s new line of Bear Paws crackers. The kit had crayons, coloring pages, stickers and three boxes of crackers. The kids put on their mini-journalist hats as they sampled the three flavors and reported back their opinions.
The class findings:
- Vegetable: Most said they were good, though Tristan didn’t like them “because there are things in them.”
- Original: Now we went up to very good, with Katja explaining that she liked them “because they are sweet.”
- Cheddar: We have a winner! Jamara said they were “really, really, really good.”
A show of hands had 13 for the vegetable, 15 for the original and all 20 for the cheddar.
The follow up
When Marie-Claude, the teacher, asked the class what a journalist did, one student replied, “She reads magazines.” Well, it was close anyway. As I was leaving, Marie-Claude thanked me and joked, “I don’t know if they’ll remember what a journalist is, but they’ll remember the crackers!”
I don’t feel too bad. When I saw stickers, tattoos and a cardboard ambulance in Juliana’s knapsack a few days later, I asked “Oh, did Paul come to class today to talk about being a paramedic?” She nodded, proudly showed off the swag from Vivianne D.’s dad, then asked, “What’s a paramedic?”
For a child who dreams of being a butterfly princess when she grows up, I can see how these “technical” jobs can be confusing.
