Wow. It took me too long to get to this third post. Sorry about that, Stacey. I kept thinking of things to write and having no time to write them. Such is the life of a working mother. Actually, maybe that's the life of ALL mothers.
My pregnant 8th grader is due to pop in a couple of weeks, and I have been thinking about mothering a lot when I see her in the hallways. She is old beyond her years, far beyond what one would expect from an 8th grade girl. Last week, I offered to let her read What to Expect the First Year as her independent reading book. She shyly took me up on the offer, stopping in with her unzipped backpack in hand so she could secret it out of my classroom.
There's no hiding her belly, though. It sticks out through a hallway of middle schools: the boys dressed for an away basketball game, ties just barely knotted; the girl in their cliques at lockers, their eyes communicating everything with just a slight flicker of their mouth in a snicker; the adults, who can't quite figure out what to make of her. A few girls befriend her, and I am grateful to them, grateful that they can reach outside themselves.
I see her, and I think of myself at that age and I think of myself at 29, which was when I had my first child. I was barely ready for the sea change that a child would bring to my life, to our life. There is so much I want to tell her in these weeks before she delivers, but I can't figure out how to say it all. I can't figure out how to distill it all into something simple...something an 8th grader can absorb. Because, for all her maturity, for all the grace with which she is handling this, she is just a thirteen-year-old.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
my 9th graders love notes and cards and letters. they're like texting only "antique". but they've figured out the power of that sort of communication and love it. they got lots of tears and hugs for their winter letters to family and also enjoyed the power of their own words, i think.
ReplyDeleteknit her a little hat for the baby and put a card with it. inside the card, put what you want to say in checklist form: "10 important secrets other moms won't tell you" or "5 ways to be a happy mom" or something sort of goofy. the list form makes the whole thing easy to read. keep them light but make them honest. obviously in real life, there's no checklist to get any mom ready for what's ahead, especially not an 8th grade mom, but if you can cram two or three things in there that might help her breathe a little, things you wish you knew back then, she's got a start, at least. she'll know what's the real gift in what you give her.
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment! Absolutely send any running and pregnancy questions my way. By no means am I an expert and have learned in a trial by fire manner but I'm happy to help out how I can.
MaskedBadger's ideas are great - light and honest are tips that new moms of any age and experience need.
Jen P
www.decafplease.blogspot.com