Letters to Zoe
Posted by Briana Meade on Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Dearest Zoe,
I am now about thirty three weeks pregnant, and I wanted to share with you a letter I wrote over Spring break because I think it will give you an idea of how much has changed since then. I was only around 19 weeks pregnant, and I didn't know that you were even a girl!
April, St. Augustine Beach, FL
When I first told my first graders I was pregnant, I don't know what I was expecting to receive in response. Warm accolades, a toast, congratulations perhaps. I imagined that they would be full of burning questions, perhaps worried about me. Instead, when I sat them down and gravely announced my prengancy, they were simply perplexed. There was several seconds of silence, what seemed like abnormally quick acceptance, and then several students began to make connections to their own short six years of experience with pregnant women: "My aunt was pregnant." One girl offered. " I saw someone on TV who had a baby and then threw the baby out the window." Samira told me. After everyone had offered their vague and disconnected stories on pregnancy, we talked about umbilical cords and belly buttons. I told them that their mommies had fed them through these holes in their belly. Everyone touched their belly buttons in awe and I was certain I had taught them plenty for the day. Carlos, still perplexed about pregnancy, mentioned that babies were actually delivered by birds, which confused the whole class more. At this point, I was certain we had had enough for a day.
I am now about thirty three weeks pregnant, and I wanted to share with you a letter I wrote over Spring break because I think it will give you an idea of how much has changed since then. I was only around 19 weeks pregnant, and I didn't know that you were even a girl!
April, St. Augustine Beach, FL
When I first told my first graders I was pregnant, I don't know what I was expecting to receive in response. Warm accolades, a toast, congratulations perhaps. I imagined that they would be full of burning questions, perhaps worried about me. Instead, when I sat them down and gravely announced my prengancy, they were simply perplexed. There was several seconds of silence, what seemed like abnormally quick acceptance, and then several students began to make connections to their own short six years of experience with pregnant women: "My aunt was pregnant." One girl offered. " I saw someone on TV who had a baby and then threw the baby out the window." Samira told me. After everyone had offered their vague and disconnected stories on pregnancy, we talked about umbilical cords and belly buttons. I told them that their mommies had fed them through these holes in their belly. Everyone touched their belly buttons in awe and I was certain I had taught them plenty for the day. Carlos, still perplexed about pregnancy, mentioned that babies were actually delivered by birds, which confused the whole class more. At this point, I was certain we had had enough for a day.