Classrooms and Dressing Rooms
Yesterday I finally gave in.
No more ordering from Amazon and hoping/praying it fits and I don’t have to do another return.
I went shopping.
In real life.
Gathered 14 sun dresses (that’s how I survive July and August) and went into the dreaded dressing room.
Not a fan.
But it was a divine appointment.
I was distracted from my angst over looking at my aging body in the mirror by a conversation happening in a stall just a few feet away.
A young girl and her mother.
She had the sweetest voice.
I’m gonna guess she was 9 or 10.
I could hear in her voice that she was at that tender age where she still sounds like a little girl but wants to be a young lady.
I could hear it in her questions to her Mom.
“Is this too short? Does that look like it fits?”
Mom was so tender toward her.
“If you get that, you’ll need to be really careful that you sit like a lady. Stand like one too.”
“Do you think they have this in a larger size Mom? Would that make these a little longer so they fit dress code?”
Mom said no. She’d already brought in the XL and they didn’t have XXL. She mentioned they may need to go up to a women’s XS or small.
They both agreed they weren’t ready for that.
They discussed flared jeans vs wide leg. With laughter. Bell bottoms.
I could hear the joy in the girls voice as she’d see herself in the mirror wearing something that made her feel beautiful.
Mom warned her about zippers and ties and snaps and buttons. Mentioning how fast the time goes during school breaks and how she will not want to have to tie and untie something if she has to hurry to the restroom.
Mom cared.
A lot.
You could also tell she was being patient and holding back. Letting her daughter decide if she liked the way she looked in each size.
Mom asked lots of questions too. To bring out confidence. To help her daughter discover who she is, who she’s becoming, how she wants to show up.
All of this matters.
So very much.
It’s why I labor every day to do the work of FOUND. So many students don’t have that support - that parent - that experience. So they show up the first day of school and guess who labors to be Mom to them?
Teachers.
School counselors.
Nurses.
Social workers.
They also gather funds among the staff often to meet basic needs. To buy flare jeans and shoes and underwear and hygiene products so a child can learn. Because to learn, they need to feel like they belong. Like they’re supported.
That’s why I set up the model of Fuel in the School to be one where we work strictly with educators. They see these students every day. They’re often the most constant and reliable person in the child’s life.
So cheers to the mamas.
Cheers to the educators.
And cheers to the divine appointments in dressing rooms where we remember how fast life flies by and what really matters.
