We're sharing our poems from the Weekly Parenting Poetry Workshop:

Week 3:

Hope

This week we're considering babyhood from a natural parenting perspective and examining our changing identity as parents.

If you have a poem or poems posted on your blog, link up below, or paste your poem(s) in the comments!

I'll be posting next week's theme and prompts on Monday. You can post this week's poems at any time during the challenge — the linky will remain open. To be eligible for a prize, link up or paste your poem(s) before Monday.

For full details on the workshop and prizes and to grab a badge or to catch up with us (join anytime!), see the intro post, Week 3's prompts, and Week 2's poems.

---

Here are my poems for the week. It strikes me that my third one, while following the daily prompt, ended up not being so hopeful, which was the overarching theme. Interesting how that can happen!

April 15: Milestones: Celebrate your baby's development or a turning point that struck you with wonder.

Myna birds

Oops, it dropped,
you say, and we wonder
if this counts as a three-word sentence,
so astonished are we that
you are becoming people,
a parrot of every phrase,
a mockingbird in our nest.

I'm afraid it's true,
says brother in his big-boy tones,
both of you playing with sounds
as you learn the meanings
and chatter like magpies in our nest.

April 18: Dreams: What do you hope for as a parent?

Unschooling

We once again consider college savings
and are stumped by the question we never asked:
Will our kids even go?
If they join the circus or choose clown college instead,
will we give them a stern lecture
or a kiss and our blessing?
And what investment vehicles
does the government recommend for
trapeze artists in training?

Driving through the University District tonight,
I could picture my boys with a backpack slung,
jeans tight, a cool slouch and a confident grin
as they headed to a class at UW.
I said so to Mikko, "and then you'll come home,
and you can still live with us," my secret glee.
And he said, "But what if I never want to leave?
What if I never go to college?
What if I never go to kindergarten?"
What if?

April 21: Identity: Who are you now that you're a parent? How do you introduce yourself at parties? How do you define yourself in your own head?

Identity

Amazing to think my driver's license has a picture of me in its little shiny corner
instead of two tiny smiling faces eclipsing mine.
I don't know what to reach for when I finger my ID.
At dinner with people who barely speak my language,
I falter for the German to tell them who I am: a parent, yes?
And nothing more? I write. I write about parenting.
And their eyes glaze over, this group of non-parents
or other-than-parents or used-to-be-parents,
and I sense how disappointing I am in my tiny little box in this corner.

---

Link up your posts or paste your poems in the comments!

Please comment on the participant directly above you and one other participant of your choice. Feel free to share each other's poems on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, or Twitter (#parentingpoetry) — everyone can use a little poetry!

I'm asking for your email address in the linky so I can email to let you know when the prompts and linkies are live, and so I can notify you if you're a winner. If you aren't linking up, you can leave your email address in the comments.