Kids Say the Darndest Things...

My class is quite fascinated by my growing belly and we have regular conversations about the baby inside. One of my students gives me a hug every morning and then gives the baby a hug. She pats it and says, "I love you baby!" It's quite sweet! However, some of their comments aren't as sweet and are much closer to hilarious. Let me give you a few examples:

When I first told my class about the baby, they were quite perplexed by how my belly would grow. I invited another teacher who was 9 months pregnant to come talk to my class. When she walked in their eyes bugged out and their jaws dropped. One student said, "Wow! She's about to pop!" I'm sure he's never heard an adult say this. He just really felt like her tummy was about to explode!

At first I used the terminology, "There's a baby in my belly" because it went along with the book I read them to tell them about the baby. One day I said, "There's a baby in my tummy." A student said, "Wait! Stop! There's a baby in your TUMMY?!?!?!" He stopped for a second and thought and pondered before saying, "You ate the baby?!?!?!" It was all I could do not to laugh hysterically. Of course, that's what I do 90% of the time in Pre-K!

One student asked me if I was having a boy or a girl. I was discussing the fact that I didn't know yet but that I would go to the doctor in a few weeks and would find out. They wanted to know how I'd know. So I told them the doctor would use a special machine to take a picture of my tummy and they would look at the picture and tell if it was a boy or a girl. One of my students said, "Well, yeah, I know that part. But how will they know if it's a boy or not?" I was stunned into silence. This was not the time or place for an anatomy lesson! Luckily another student came to my rescue when she said, "Because girls have more hair! If the baby has lots of hair the doctor will know it's a girl." I smiled and agreed. I then made a mental note to tell the student's mom that he was asking questions and pray that he didn't ask me again. :)

At one point my stomach made some very loud growling rumbly noises. The student sitting next to me looked at me in horror and said, "What did that baby say in there?!?!?!" I explained that the baby wasn't talking but that the baby was just hungry. He said, "Get that baby some food Mrs. Hammond before it makes that crazy noise again!"

I love my job and I love watching the kids as they watch my belly grow. It's quite fun! I can't wait to see what they have to say when they can feel the baby moving around! What a day that will be!!!