Welcoming Baby Gill

June 16, 2011

Dear Patty,

After Kristin Gill found out she was pregnant, the second-graders in her class at Blanchard School began work on a book about the baby. The class had a "baby talk" session every Monday, discussing their ideas about pregnancy, writing them down and drawing pictures of Baby Gill-to-be.

They helped design his nursery. One wanted a rocking chair, another a cage. Almost everyone included a TV for Baby Gill to watch.

Every class has its clown, and Jack was Mrs. Gill's. He was not disruptive, just someone who sees things differently. Jack thought Mrs. Gill's nursery should include beer and should be painted "camo." Most of the students chose baby blue for a paint color.

Their playlist for the nursery included "Party in the U.S.A.," "Rock-a-bye Baby" and music by "Kit" Rock.

One Monday Mrs. Gill brought baby food to class for everyone to taste. I tried some, too. If children grow up hating broccoli the reason may be because baby food broccoli is almost inedible.

Mrs. Gill asked her students to imagine having a baby in your belly and to imagine being a baby in a belly. Justice thought having a baby move in your belly would feel like a volcano. Elijah loves to swim and expected that's what he would do in a belly. Bella, the class fashionista, saw advantages to having a big belly. "I can outgrow some of my ugly clows my mom makes me where," she wrote. Bella, by the way, dresses beautifully.

Being in a belly, Kelby thought, she would hear food coming down. Luke expected to hear his mom singing.

Dominic, one of the class intellectuals, may have perceived the real reason babies kick. He would spend his belly time trying to "find a way out." His drawing of himself inside a belly was completely black.

Names are important to us, especially when we're children. One of the students is named Serenity, another Justice. They seem to become their names. Everyone got a shot a naming Mrs. Gill's baby. Lots thought the baby should be named after them. Blitzen and Toto also received nominations. So did Been There Done That. For their own reasons, Mrs. Gill and her husband chose the name Grant.

The students' parents were asked how their children were named. Elijah's mother wanted her firstborn child to have a biblical name and liked that the prophet ascended into heaven alive. Some chose a name because they wanted the name themselves. Kelby's parent said no other name would fit her.

Baby Gill was born last month. A few weeks later, Mrs. Gill brought him to Blanchard. The class gasped and oohed to see the bump in their teacher's belly had become a person. Their completed "Baby Gill" book she brought included a picture of the nursery. The word Grant fills most of one wall in capital letters. The walls are baby blue.

Love, Sam

Sam Blackwell is a former reporter for the Southeast Missourian.