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Notes from the School Psychologist: “Labor” Day Confession—Why I Didn’t Go Back to School This Year
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I have a confession. I didn’t go back to work as a school psychologist in the public schools this year.
You may or may not have noticed an absence of back to school posts and tweets and Facey Face posts about how the school year has gone so far. No Kindergarten quotes of the day, no status updates or posts about vermin in my office, no posts about cute attacks in the Kinder class, nothing. In fact, you maybe noticed a general drop off in posts over the past, oh, 9 months…
That is because I was busy making a person! Who knew making a person with your body could be so exhausting? (Besides anyone who has been pregnant before). This was my first, so it was all new for me. I mean, wow. It really wears a gal out. It turns out that blogging is the last thing on one’s mind after working AND making a person all day. I am fairly proud of myself for posting anything at all last semester! During my pregnancy, while I didn't enjoy the fatigue and weird comments adults would make about my weight (e.g. "Whoa! There's a 3000 lb weight limit on this elevator, you might want to take the next one!" or "Are you sure there's only ONE in there?" and "Hey, Fatty! Waddle waddle!"), I did enjoy the comments made about my pregnancy by the kiddos...
• A 2nd grader and I were playing a board game and she gave me two turns because I was “playing for two people.” Cute attack. • Around month 5, a kiddo asked me if my baby had a head yet. • A teenager I was working with told me I should name my baby “Aquafina.” I think she was inspired by my water bottle in my office. • A teenage boy said, “Ooh! Having a baby is gonna hurt, you should get high before you go into labor, that’s what my mom did!” Um, pass. • A first grader shushed the whole class when I entered the room and said, “Shhhh you guys, the baby can hear you!” • Every day in my last trimester, as I waddled into my school, a kindergartener asked, “Have you had it yet???” (clearly not!) and worse yet, “How did it get in there?” Um, ask your mom… • A kindergartener eyed my giant belly suspiciously and asked, “What happened there??? • And finally, as I waddled into a classroom in June, looking humungous, a 7th grade boy said, “Dude. It is so messed up that they are making you work still!” Amen, little brother!
After spending most of the school year preggers, my due date was three days after I was supposed to report back to work this fall. I had my baby girl two weeks ago, on the first day of school.* Sure, I’m totally biased, but I think Baby B is perfect. I just stare at her all day (and at night, every two hours) and marvel that I made a tiny person. It's my greatest accomplishment to date.
It is quite strange to not be back at school though. I must forewarn you, I will not have any amazing material or stories to share with you for a while (unless you want to hear about diaper changes, sleep training, and my baby's sensorimotor development?). I will count on you all to keep the torch alive on the Facey Face page by sharing with everyone how back to school has been, and posting intriguing questions for the group to comment on. I will join you in the fun in a few months!
Oh, and Happy "Labor" Day! Get it? Labor? Oh, never mind, its the sleep deprivation, I think I'm being clever.
*Hey, fun fact about having a baby: Natural childbirth is no joke. I had the baby in Berkeley, and felt a bit of peer pressure to go natural (not like, a home birth with a doula/lotus flower bath natural, but like no drugs natural). After the birth, I told my husband, “Oh, look at our precious only child!” But only 2 weeks later, I have labor amnesia and could have a whole litter of newborns, and just stare at their tiny hands and button noses all day and night.