‘Mama Pieternel becomes daddy Pieter’
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A teacher tells Kek Mama what she is experiencing. This time: Teacher Roos (37) teaches group seven.
Tuesday afternoon three o’clock, the children flow out. As always, I’ll stay in class for another 15 minutes. Then Pieternel comes in, our most active mother. Her partner Merel often participates in school activities. Pieternel’s face is heated, her motorcycle helmet is still on her head. I suspect she’s coming to discuss our upcoming theater visit.
“Sit down,” I say. She plops down on a chair. Then she says something that makes any play pale: “I’m going to change gender. In a few months I will no longer be Pieternel, but Pieter. I want to tell that to the children of the senior year. Do you know a good time?”
I’m glad I’m sitting. Pieternel has always had something masculine, with her tough motor skills. But this goes further. She says that her children, Vic and Mylou, had to get used to it, but that they are fine now. “They get a mom and dad, like their boyfriends. They think that’s funny.” For Merel she remains who she is, says Pieternel.
Be yourself
It’s Friday, seniors are having lunch in a large classroom. It’s a buzz of noise. This moment Pieternel and I have chosen to inform the children; then they can think about it over the weekend. Pieternel stands in front of the group, claps her hands and shouts: “Guys, be quiet because I have good news!” The children stop talking.
Then Pieternel says: “Sometimes you are not happy with yourself. Then you want to be someone else. Actually that’s the case with me too. Only: I don’t want to be someone else, but just myself. And I don’t feel like a woman, but a man. Because I want to be happy, I’m going to become a man, with the help of medicine. So very good news. Soon I will no longer be Pieternel, but Pieter. Isn’t that nice?”
Ask
I look at the faces of the children. Mylou is tense, afraid that the future Pieter will be laughed at. But no one is smiling. The faces are open and interested.
“Is it all at once?” asks Dan. “No,” says Pieternel. “Piece by piece.” “Do you also get a man’s voice?” asks Mary. “Certainly,” says Pieternel. With a wink: “And a beard.” Now the children have to laugh. “Will you keep doing fun things with us?” asks Jane. “Of course!” answers Pieternel. Boris asks the key question: “Do you also take a dick?” Peter: “No. I’ve never had one, so I don’t miss one.” The session ends with the request to also tell the parents ‘the good news’. In particular, I wonder how Meryem’s conservative parents will react.
Also read – Dad becomes mom: ‘I don’t mind telling the kids’ >
Good news
Monday after school a surprise awaits me. Meryem’s mother Selin offers Vic and Mylou a bag of Turkish delight. Many parents tell the two how happy they are with the news.
A while later I bump into Pieter at the supermarket. “How are you?” I ask. “Perfect”, Peter laughs. He is clearly Peter now. His voice has become lower, and he has tiny stubble on his cheeks. With a grin: “I’m competing with Vic to see who should shave first. I win.”
This article can be found in Kek Mama 03-2022.
More stories from The Teacher? Read the previous episodes here.
