If you are in grade one, and your teacher is not married, it is difficult to determine whether they are an adult or a kid.

In order to be an adult, you have to be married and/or have kids. I am not married and do not have kids, so that does not allow me to fit into the category of adult. I am not in elementary, middle or high school, like most of their siblings, and don’t have to wait for my mom to drive me to a friend’s house for a play date, so they are pretty sure I am not a kid.

What category do I fit into, in the eyes of grade ones?

Out of the mouths of babes

The inquisitive minds in my class asked lots of questions to try figure out which category they could place me in.

“Miss Feenstra, do you have kids?”

“Does your mom drive you to school?”

“Miss Feenstra, do you have a boyfriend?”

“Miss Feenstra, are you married?”

“Miss Feenstra, why aren’t you married?”

“Miss Feenstra, when is Simon going to ask you to marry him?”

“Miss Feenstra, if Simon does not ask you to marry him, why don’t you just ask him? If he says no, then just get another boyfriend!”

Impress me

This summer, Simon took me to the beach in Harrison on a quiet Monday afternoon. He pulled out art canvases, paints, paintbrushes and all the supplies we would need to complete portraits of each other. Simon instructed me that we were going to paint without showing each other, and at the end we would reveal the finished products. Neither of us are artists, so this activity included a lot of laughing at what we were each secretly creating. When we both decided we were finished, we counted down to turn our paintings around and showed each other the product. Little did I know, he was stealthily painting the words, “Will you marry me?” at the top of his portrait. As soon as we turned the portraits around he came around the table, got down on one knee and asked for my hand in marriage.

I said yes.

I will start the year as Miss Feenstra and end the year as Mrs. Braun.

I will finally be an adult, I think.