【非文青每周一文】My September

凑数，把烤面包的speech拿来贴上, 里面可以看到一些我以前写的Marriage一篇的影子。也作为女儿明天生日的小记录吧。

What’s today’s date? September 30^th. Today is the last day of September. I know what you are thinking:  Oh, time really flies. What has happened to 2011? This year is almost over. However, to me, September feels more like a beginning. I spent two thirds of my life in schools and my hu*****and is a college professor, September, the beginning of an academic year, means more of a new beginning, even more so than January 1^st. September means new changes for me. From when I was 6 to 17, September meant I was going to a new grade. For a girl of that age, moving up to one grade higher was a really big deal. After that, September meant more than just a new grade. It is a life-changing month for me. Today, I will focus on the three Septembers that brought the most changes to my life: the September I went to college, the September I came to the US and the September I became a Mom. Let me tell you about each one.

 

September 1991, 20 years ago, I left my home town for college. This was the first time for me to live in a big city and to live on my own. I stopped living with my parents, and started living with 5 other girls in a dorm room of about 200 square feet. I started missing my mom’s cooking which I had thought was awful.  I stopped speaking my regional dialect and started speaking Mandarin. I stopped hanging out with my high-school classmates but met my best friend in life.  

September 1999, 12 years ago, I left my home country and ventured overseas to attend graduate school. I left behind the freezing winters of Beijing and came into the sunshine of LA. Every faucet now had both cold and hot water 24/7. The swanky, immaculate Pizza Huts in Beijing suddenly turned into typical American fast food joints.  I no longer looked for foreigners to practice English with, I myself became a foreigner.  An alien.   I lit up when I saw an Asian face. I lit up when I heard someone speaking Chinese.  

 

September 2008, 3 years ago, I was nine months pregnant. To my dismay, my OBGYN said my daughter was a breech. All month of that September, I tried every way I could find or that I had heard of, to change the baby's position, hoping she would turn to the right direction in order to avoid a C-section. Do you know that standing on your hands in the water for 15 minutes a day is one way to turn a breech baby? I learned how to do a handstand in the swimming pool in that September, nine months pregnant. I was so focused on this change of her position that I lost sight of the fact that the biggest change of my life was going to overwhelm me. I became a mom on October 1^st, 2008 after a C-section. My daughter didn’t change her position; Instead, I was the one that was changed. Motherhood totally transformed me.

 

I became an expert diaper-changer, a wiper of dirty faces, a chef and a dresser.

I became a good sleeper; I could sleep when I was sitting, sometimes even when I was standing.

I became a good liar, “No, Daddy isn’t eating ice cream, it is cauliflower!”.

 

I became a child psychologist, “If you go to sleep early, you will have nice dreams”.

 

Recently, with the addition of my son to the family, I became a referee of toy wars: “Liya, you should share with your little brother”. “I know, Kai should get a timeout.”

 

Today is the last day of September. A new month of change has just passed. My son started crawling and my daughter started pre-school. As she started being in school all day, it suddenly dawned on me that the biggest change of all is: after becoming a mom, my September, which changed me in so many ways in the past, is not going to be “my September” any more. Every September from now on is going to be the milestone of my children's adventures in life. I will be the observer watching the changes every September will bring for them. Though not my September any more, I will still be looking forward to every future September with equal excitement.

所有跟帖： 

• 顺便请个假，这周末给女儿过生日，会很忙。大家周末愉快！ -非文学青年- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 16:22:45

• 回复：顺便请个假，这周末给女儿过生日，会很忙。大家周末愉快！ -NewVoice- ♀ (3831 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 17:07:58

• Happy Birthday to Liya. -紫君- ♀ (262 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 17:56:00

• 感人. -浮上来冒个小泡- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 17:21:45

• 应该配上冲浪同学唱的SEPTEMBER的歌哈。揭发一下， -cha-cha- ♀ (140 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 17:58:19

• 写得真好！！! Happy Birthday to Liya!!! -jennea- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 18:23:34

• Great writing! Happy Birthday to Liya! -EnLearner- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 18:49:52

• 一并谢谢楼上朋友们！先忙去了，晚上看有时间再来揭发恰恰的糗事，咔咔。 -非文学青年- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 19:07:52

• 没有时间挤时间也得来。等，咔咔。 -beautifulwind- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 21:10:46

• 感动...不如再给Liya起个名字叫September吧。多别致（chic）的名字啊。刚到家，就看到你一如既往的好文，也希望冲 -beautifulwind- ♀ (3247 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 21:30:27

• 就给Liya起网名叫september吧。哈哈。 -非文学青年- ♀ (60 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 23:19:22

• 爱，不是一般的爱！ -beautifulwind- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 23:30:53

• 好，September！！！ -beautifulwind- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 23:31:41

• 俺下了哈，明天得忙。晚安，亲爱的小美风！ -非文学青年- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 23:32:51

• 我等着你的爆料呢。 -beautifulwind- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 23:32:37

• 爆料，以后再讲，等我想想。现在脑子不行了，睡了哈。 -非文学青年- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/30/2011 postreply 23:33:43

• 写得好！谢分享! 祝你宝贝女儿生日快乐！ -同学小薇- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/01/2011 postreply 06:56:39

• 幸福的一家子！祝福！ -bingli- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/01/2011 postreply 09:07:40

• 谢谢小薇和冰粒！ -非文学青年- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/03/2011 postreply 10:52:15

• nice flow and touching! Wonderful composition! -辫子- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/01/2011 postreply 09:39:43

• 谢谢辫子欣赏！这几天忙活，没及时回帖，谢谢你的鼓励，欢迎你常来美坛！ -非文学青年- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/03/2011 postreply 09:04:11

• 衷心祝福！ -wnexuechengyuan- ♀ (17 bytes) () 10/01/2011 postreply 13:54:06

• 谢谢本家！ -非文学青年- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/03/2011 postreply 09:05:08

• Good writing. Happy mon. -冲浪潜水员- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/01/2011 postreply 22:37:31

• Happy mom, you mean? haha -非文学青年- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/03/2011 postreply 09:05:29