Classmate Moms

When you’re a little kid in school many thoughts come to mind about your fellow classmates. You think so-and-so is your best friend, maybe your worst enemy. Maybe they’re very good on the blacktop playing basketball or they’re the fastest runner on the track during gym class. One thing you never think about until you get older is the fact that these classmates will one day grow up and become parents. Yes, one day your fellow toddlers and teenagers are going to have kids of their own who will follow in the footsteps of their youthful decadence.

Half of these students were the young women of the class and I never imagined in a million years that these young girls would become amazing mothers. I know them all from different places like Chapel Hill and Greensboro. These women were there for every single stage of my educational experience: preschool, Elementary, middle, high school and even college.

What can I say about all these young women I met who grew up to become mothers? I guess I can say a lot. When I first met them some of them were the stereotypical girly girls, some were Tom boys and others were some of my best friends. They all love to talk about fashion, hair and nails, and they loved to talk about which boy band or young male singer was their imaginary husband. I remember bickering with a lot of these girls and having them all tell me how much they could not stand me, the feeling was mutual. Yet, some of these girls were some of the main culprits in class who I was joking and getting into to trouble with.

When thinking about the memories I have with these young women so many things come to mind. When I was seven years old one of them stabbed me in my hand and then faked sick so they wouldn’t have to face the consequences. This memory was more funny than painful like it would be for most. I think my best memories with these girls was seeing their loving and nurturing side come to the surface whenever I was having a bad day or was going through a rough time in my life. Times like this really made us go from I hate you to I love you over the course of just seven hours in a school day. Seeing their maternal side come out during hard times really makes the future motherhood of the young girl I knew growing up no surprise in retrospect.

Fast forward to the end of highschool and all of these young girls that I grew up with in school had become young women. When highschool ended these women went forward down the paths of life they were meant to be. Some of them became medical workers, others became teachers, but many became wives and mothers. It really is heartwarming to see all these young women who I grew up with becoming responsible mothers.

Very often do I see them on social media posting pictures of their children. In every photo they are filled with joy when they talk about how tear jerking it is to watch their children go off into the world on their first days of school. Many of their children carry their upbeat and animated spirit that they had when we were kids. Something I’ve noticed is how motherhood has really changed all of these young women I grew up with in the classroom. I have seen them mature in ways that I never foresaw back in the day. Many of them seemed like they hated the idea of being a parent when we were children, but being mothers seems to be their dream jobs now and they wouldn’t trade those motherly duties for the world.

Today all those amazing young women I grew up with in the classroom have become even more amazing since they’ve donned those crowns of motherhood. They work hard every day to provide for their families and they do a great job at teaching their children the value of life experience. These mothers are also raising the future of our world into incredible human beings, people who will make a memorable impact such as they have. These classmates of mine have become amazing mothers and I wish every single one of them a Happy Mother’s Day.

~~This article is dedicated to all of my amazing classmates who became even more amazing mothers.