It's a rite of passage many parents are familiar with – that emotional experience sending kids off to kindergarten for the first time.
Utah mom Tavia Wade knows it well, since she and her husband saw their 5-year-old twin daughters off to their "big kids' school" on Aug. 15.
But during dropoff, one of their girls' teachers gave them a surprise item, and Wade was so overcome by the gesture that she shared her experience in a now-viral TikTok video.
As she explained in her video, the teacher presented Wade with a new tissue packet and taped onto it was a printed poem.
"I started reading it out loud to my husband, not knowing what the result would be," Wade recalled to "Good Morning America." "By the second line, I couldn't say it out loud because my lip was quivering."
"I give you a little wink and smile as you entered my room today. For I know how hard it is to leave and know your child must stay," the rhyming poem began in part.
"But now, alas, the time has come to leave them at my side. Just know that as you drive away and the tears down your cheeks may flow, I'll love them as I would my own and help them learn and grow," the poem continued in part.
Wade said the touching poem brought both her and her husband to tears.
"I look over at my husband and he has full-on crocodile tears streaming down from his cheeks and we both just continued reading it in silence to ourselves and then walked because it was so emotional," the mom of three said.
Wade said she felt so touched that one of the teachers made sure to acknowledge and assure parents like herself and her husband who are starting a new chapter alongside their kids.
"The teacher taking that initiative to print that poem out just gave me comfort knowing that she knows that it's a big deal to send your babies off," Wade said. "It meant a lot that she would take the time to do that and reassure us that she has them and they're in good hands."
She added that she wanted to share the TikTok video in part to shine a light on teachers and the meaningful work they accomplish everyday.
"Teachers are amazing and the majority of them put their heart and souls into what they're doing," said Wade. "They care enough to print out a poem and tissues because they know that that day is really hard for you as a parent but they're also saying, 'I got this. I'm going to take care of your kids.' And, I don't think teachers get enough appreciation and they are so important and so crucial to building up the future generation."
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