Growing Pains

Meazi is having growing pains, literally. Her shins hurt. I have to buy new clothes and shoes for her all of the time. I am now an Ebay shopper, bidding late into the night on used Naartjie leggings. I wake up in the morning and do an Ebay walk of shame over to my laptop, half hoping my rash overbidding has been outbid by someone who likes Naartjie more than me. I am working on her back to school wardrobe. I keep an eye open for butterflies, and purple, and 100% cotton.

She just had her last day of a month long summer program. Originally I had her in the Spanish Immersion class. She was miserable, so I switched her to art. We now have tons of painted toilet paper rolls, and decorative switch plate covers filling our rooms. She liked art. I was happy that the program was so diverse. Today, her last day, she told me all sorts of stories about her racist classmates. There was a boy who told her she was disgusting the very first week. She had mentioned it when it happened, but what she didn't tell me was that he said, "You are disgusting. Black people are disgusting." A second student told her that "Chocolate people were stupid". In both instances, Meazi spoke to the child and then to her teacher. The kids were reprimanded. Steven said the problem with all of this diversity is that this diversity apparently involves skinheads too. All are welcome. Meazi, surprising me with her strong sense of self, and her brave sense of right and wrong, believes these kids are wrong, and sad, and bullies. She feels sorry for them that they don't see how beautiful chocolate is, and how a mixed family is special. She knows to gravitate toward the students that agree with her.

I am watching her grow up. Her length astonishes me. The family bed is getting more and more cramped. She is tall and strong.

On our way to class one morning she said, "Mom, we should really get back to the zoo. It looks like on July 9th there will be a new Los Angeles zookeeper." She was looking up at a billboard for this movie. It had a Coming on July 9th banner on it. I loved this so, so, much when she said it. I love that she doesn't understand movies, or billboards, or who Kevin James is.

This moment, as I am writing this, she is sitting next to me braiding her doll's hair and asking me if I like Lady Gaga. She is wearing her new underwear I bought her at Target today, and her butterfly backpack, and nothing else. In the backpack are her doll's clothes. She says that she and her baby Sarah are traveling to North Ecuador to visit Sarah's mom. She says that she adopted Sarah, but that it wasn't because of a sad reason like her adoption. She says, 'Sarah's moms are both living".

"I think Lady Gaga is a wizard. Do you think so mom?"

I'm not sure Meazi. I'm not sure.