Parent Story
Amanda and Tyler's Story
The following is a 2008 Graduation Speech given by graduate Amanda at the Mom's House Graduation Celebration. I want to start off thanking all of you for being here tonight. My name is Amanda and I am happy to be here with my son, Tyler. It is so nice to see all of the children who have played and grown with Tyler, their parents who have supported their children and each other, and the Mom's House teachers and staff who have taught and guided Tyler through the last four years. Five years ago, I graduated high school and in October, my beautiful baby boy was born. Although I was overjoyed and loved my son, I was nervous to face the challenges of being a new mother and a new student. With only 24 hours in a day, I had no idea how I would balance going to classes, doing my homework, working, and taking care of Tyler. My family and friends were there for me as much as they could be, but they had responsiblitlies to balance as well. This is where Mom's House came to the rescue. When I first brought Tyler here, he was only twelve weeks old. I was making eight bottles and changing twelve diapers a day. But he was growing up faster than I could believe. One day I came to pick up Tyler and was amazed to see him feeding himself with full bites of food. At home, I was still cutting his food into the tiniest pieces you could ever imagine. His teachers realized that he was more grown up than I understood. If it wasn't for Mom's House, he might still be eating mashed bananas. As a toddler, Tyler used to cry because he did not want me to leave him. But by the end of the year, he started crying because he did not want to leave his friends and teachers at Mom's House. Now, Tyler is about to turn five and start kindergarten in the fall. He is independent, smart, loving, brave, and ready to face the next challenge. I, too, am ready. Because of Mom's House, I graduated from SUNY Cortland with my degree in Adolescent Education in Math. As my ceremony, New York State Senator Church Schumer spoke about finding your passion. He said that there were two tests that you should live your life by. The first test is the Monday morning test. When you wake up Monday morning, do you look forward to your job? Are you excited for the coming week? And the second test is the Friday afternoon test. When you leave work at the end of the week, are you excited about what you are going home to? Do you look forward to seeing your loved ones? Thanks to Mom's House, I AM following my passion. I am becoming a teacher and I am looking forward to making a difference in the lives of my students. I know that when I wake up Monday morning, I will be eager to start the week. More importantly, at the end of every week, there is no one I would rather come home to than Tyler. I am incredibly proud of my son and the rest of the children at Mom's House. It amazes me to see how much they have grown. I am also very proud of all the mothers at Mom's House. It is not easy to raise a child, go to a school, and follow your dreams. But with the help of Mom's House, we are able to pursue our education and make better lives for ourselves and our children. Mom's House is not only a day care; they have become part of my family. Thank you! And Congratulations to all the graduates!