Today's post is in honor of my first born's birthday. It is hard to believe he is 7 today. Well, actually he is not officially 7 until 11:10pm. He asked me why we celebrate a birthDAY. I told him that we celebrate the day on which you were born. That is why it is called a birthday and not a birthtime! He is very interested in what time he was born. He is also interested in how babies actually get out of the mommy's tummy. I told him, "all you need to know is that babies are a gift from God." He wasn't buying it. Well, that must be the engineer in him. How does that work?? How does that baby get out?? We have a friend who just had a baby so that is what prompted his asking. It must be quite baffling for a little person to see a woman's tummy just soooo big and know there is actually a human baby in there!
I am so grateful to be a teacher to my own children. It is a fulfillment of years of training and years of experience. It was a calling for me ever since I used to play school in my basement at home with my older siblings' textbooks and workbooks. I can still see the wooden desk and the half completed and torn pages of old textbooks. I just LOVED filling in those blanks and pretending I was the teacher, too. I idolized my teachers when I was a child. Perhaps it was because they saw that I aimed to please and that I needed attention. Perhaps it was because I was often bullied and had a terrible time making friends. In a house full of 12 people (in the early years of my family) I often felt alone. Whatever the reason, everything in my life led me toward teaching and I think my own love for my teachers is what led me to follow in their footsteps.
So it is no wonder that when I gave birth for the first time, my world changed for the better both personally AND professionally. Here I was, after all those years teaching OTHER people's children, now with one of my very own! And to know first hand now how all of my students over the years actually came into being was quite an epiphany. For example, to now have a child to "teach" from birth is just an amazing thought. I was a kindergarten teacher. In a strange and misinformed way, I thought THAT was when the learning began...when they started school!
On the contrary, to be a part of my child's life from the absolute moment of conception has taught me that the capacity for learning in a human being is more boundless than I could have ever imagined! It is not tied down to a classroom. It is so much more than that. The love I have for my husband in the first place is what brought about the new life of each of our children. Because of this, I have an even greater stake in what I teach them and what I bring to their lives. I am so thrilled to be a part of it and on Emmett's 7th birthday, today, I am happy to take a few moments out of all the busy preparations to reflect on it in order to think of how I can try to be a better teacher AND mother to him every day!
So teacher or not, embrace every moment. Marvel in the new adventure you have every day with your children and/or students and savor the light bulbs that light up before your eyes! Think of how many of those moments we had as children that we loved for our parents and teachers to witness.
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| Newborn Emmett only minutes old. A beautiful home birth. |
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| Emmett 1 year old |
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| This is one of my favorite pictures of Emmett. He just LOVED riding his tricycle and our friend Dale captured this one weekend when he was visiting in Spring 2010 |
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| Emmett and Mommy at the beach in Nags Head last summer. |
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