Happy (very late) Mother’s Day to all of you SLP Moms and Grandmas! I am so busy as I know you are too and it hardly seems like I can get anything done and especially when it comes to blogging! Just wanted to say hi! My newest baby, little Caleb, is now 5 months old! He has 2 teeth already which erupted at 4 months. Yes, 4 months. Lots of crying over here in these parts.
The school year is winding down and I’m really sad. I saw three of my students the other day when it was recess time. They are speech kids who are just, you know, not as cool as everyone else and get left out and so they hang out together or avoid recess altogether. They saw me in the speech room and came in. They just chatted with me about life and speech and my kids and then wanted to see pictures of my girls and baby boy.
I don’t know about you, but I have a love for my speech kids that I just can’t explain. I mean, I loved them when I was a single, just-out-of-grad-school, clinical fellow who became an SLP so that I could help others. But then I got married and had my own kids. And my heart got 3 sizes too big! It just expanded even more after I became a mom. When I saw the kids on my caseload, I saw them as somebody’s baby who they carried for 9 months, had dreams for, cried over, almost lost, sacrificed everything for, missed, worried about, etc. My students all sort of feel like they are my speech babies, too. Many of the kids I’m working with this year I had when they were in kindergarten and they are now 5th graders. I won’t be working with this particular group of kids next year and I already miss them. So before these 3 kids headed back out to recess, I tried to tell them just how amazing they were and I told them they were smart and fun people. I told them to never give up and to always remember how much I enjoyed being their speech teacher.
Kids grow up. It’s this wonderfully sad fact of life. A mom will always see her kids as the babies she rocked and kissed endlessly. I suppose I’ll always see my speech kiddos as those precious little kindergarten babies who just wanted to be accepted by an often unfriendly world, but whose lives always brightened my days more than they will probably ever know.
Happy Mother’s day you amazing SLP Moms and Grandmas!
Here are a couple pictures of my sweetheart Caleb!
Happy (late) Mother's Day!
Hi Heather, Your post on Mother’s Day really struck me as I read it today. I am an SLP mom with two boys that receive speech therapy for social skills and are elementary school age. One is ending third grade and the other is ending fifth grade. I do believe both of my boys are still my babies and I often reminisce of rocking and singing to them and how quickly they have progressed from babies to kindergarten to now!! Both boys love seeing their SLP who brightens their day in a sometimes unfriendly world. Both participate in a lunch bunch with their peers during speech. These peers are good friends and both boys look forward to their lunch bunch day to gather and talk about life with their SLP. Their SLP is very motherly as well and I know they have been in good hands with her. So I want you to know that what you wrote very much rings true for me as I see my boys grow and mature into handsome, sweet young men. I work with preschoolers as an SLP and I often use your worksheets and I stumbled on your post today and it meant so much today to read!! Thank you for your post and also your awesome worksheets!
Hi Maureen,
Thank you so much for your feedback and comment on my post. I can see we both share a love for our kids and our SLP kids! I feel the same way! So happy to like my blog! It’s a work in progress. I have lots of plans for more posts and materials but as you know, being a mom is A LOT of work! LOL
Sending you love and hugs from one SLP mama to another!
Heather