kids say the darnest things...

Every morning ritual school is the same. We get to school between 8-8:20 a.m. Say my usual "Good mornings" to teachers in the hallway and to Kay our supervisor. Then I unload my bag of crap filled with essentials - my planner, my sack-o-pencils, my journal, my Challenge and Living Faith prayer books (thanks Ate!), my novel (courtesy of Julie :) The Shadow in the Wind, some stationary (for letters to write when I have time to spare), whatever shoes I plan to wear for the day, my Bath and Body works lotion (courtesy of Paul!), my mini-scrapbook of quotes, and my trusty purple Nalgene filled with h2o.

Then, I fill it up with my school stuff - folders and papers, photocopies of phonics worksheets and alphabet and sight-word flashcards galore. Sometimes, my lip gloss gets lost in the mix. After packing the pack, I have 20 minutes to kill - usually checking the email or reading my prayer books or if I'm really ambitious - journaling.

It isn't until I walk into the classroom that the ritual is shifted by the things my kiddos say. Some days are nothing out of the ordinary: one kid's picking his nose and the girl next to him has snot coming down one nostril; another girl is commenting on my wearing a skirt and a boy is showing me his latest "boo-boo."

Then there are those special days when I'm short with the kids... And I constantly have to yell to get their attention or tell them they have to spend recess with me (dreadful, I know...).

And then --- there are the days when a student will come to my Center station, sit and diligently do her work and she'll ask, "Teacher, teacher - will you be a grandma when we have babies?"

heeheeheeheeheehee

I laughed, smiled, and said, "Yes, maybe I will... haha."

But her question made me think... I remember the students in middle school who have asked me, "Where's your husband?" "Have any kids?" "You're old, why aren't you married?" "Don't you want kids?" [My answers to these questions: a gentle smile and laugh --- God has a plan... hehe]

Their reality is far more different from mine. At the tender age of 16, some of these precious babies are having their own babies. By the time these newborns enter school, mommy or daddy is only 22, 24 years old... If not younger.

So when I thought about Nakola's question again, I started to wonder if any of my kindergarten kiddos would be poppin babies when they're 15-16 years old. That would be in approximately 10 years... That means I'd be in my early-mid 30s. [say whaaaa??! already?!] And I'll probably only be starting to have my own babies... which means I'd be giving birth at same time as some of my kiddos?

Wow. My head is spinning from thinking about all of that! And to think, it all began with such a simple question...

"Teacher, teacher will you be a grandma when we have babies?"