A few weeks ago I got a letter in my daughter's Wednesday folder that the school was going to be conducting sex ed over the next few weeks. It outlined the matter that was going to be taught by grade level and that as parents we should be discussing sexuality with our children. Okay.
Fifth grade only covers puberty. I didn't have a problem with her going. She knows it all anyway. When you have me as a mom you probably get more information then you need. So I threw out the paper and forgot about it.
Fast forward to yesterday, I was at the school helping with an event and I forgot to tell her science teacher to make sure she goes to the library instead of getting on the bus. I normally wouldn't interrupt the class but my daughter told me they were just watching movies since it was the last full day of the school year. I knocked on the classroom door and opened it and a movie was playing and there were a group of kids sitting on the floor.
I spotted the teacher in the corner and just asked if she would make sure my daughter didn't get on the bus. She smiled at me strangely and said that she would. I scanned the room briefly for my daughter and I was a little confused because it was mostly boys. Some of the kids weren't normally in her class. They looked at me weirdly. I didn't think anything of it. I shut the door and went on with my day.
A short time later I was walked through the hall and saw one of my daughter's friends. She stopped me and she had a silly smile on her face. "Mrs. B. Your daughter was just in.....THAT class with me." I forgot they had gender education that day.
"Oh yeah? So now you know all of the things?"
She nodded, "Yes."
The little girl behind her interjected, "And I'm scared."
My daughter did get on the bus anyway. I fixed a snack and we chatted.
"How was your puberty class?"
"Awkward."
"Did they teach you anything you didn't know?"
"No. But someone asked what a sperm is and they said that they wouldn't tell us about that until 6th grade. We did a weird word search that had pads and tampons as the words to find."
"And vagina?"
"Yeah. How did you know that?"
A hunch. "So you did a vagina word search today at school? It doesn't get more epic than that."
She laughed. "Yeah, and we had to watch a movie about becoming a woman from Always. I think Always must have a lot of money."
"Who taught your class?"
"My English teacher and another teacher. My science teacher and a boy teacher taught the boys."
Now it all made sense. That's why my daughter's teacher was acting weird and why she wasn't in the classroom. I interrupted the nocturnal emissions movie to talk about my daughter with her teacher. Really? Only I would do that. Worst mom ever.
I immediately sent her teacher an email apologizing for being so rude and interrupting them. When my daughter came home from school today she said, "Mom. This boy came up to me at lunch and said, 'Dude, your mom came in when we were all watching that weird movie.'"
Fortunately, she doesn't have to endure too much embarrassment because today was the last day of school! I cannot believe that this year passed by so quickly. I am usually sad when school is over but this year I am excited! It's not been easy. The work is much harder and more intense. Not having to deal with homework for 2.5 months is heaven, not to mention not getting up at 5 am.
My 8 year old was so excited when she came home from school today. "Mom! Guess what? We can sleep in ALL summer. We can even sleep past 6 o'clock." Even she is getting tired of getting up early. This is the first year in 7 years that I am home with the kids all summer and I am so excited. How blessed am I?
We have SOOOOO much planned. From bowling, skating, the beach, days at the water park, movies, and a trip to Sliding Rock- we will be busy!
My girls are getting so big. They are smart, beautiful, and healthy. I could not ask for more. I am so grateful for this time I get with them. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be a stay at home mom again and that my husband would have a new job - I would have told you that you were crazy. This year has taught me many important lessons. To live in the moment, to trust in God, and to be still.
That doesn't mean that I won't be complaining about my kids in my next blog post. I'm sure the children will give me plenty of material this summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment