I've Been A Woman For 18 Hours Now, And Honestly It's Okay I Guess

I woke up this morning to a surprise. We all know what’s been happening in the news. We’ve all heard the stories of people waking up changed.<br><br>Men waking up as women, and vice versa. I never really believed it. I’m sure most of us didn’t. <br><br>But I woke up this morning to my mom screaming, saying she couldn’t zip up her jeans like she normally could. She went to look in the mirror, and she wasn’t my mom anymore. She was a man. Tall, muscular, short hair, and facial hair. And she was just as surprised as I was, and just as terrified.<br><br>I, however, was still me. And I was terrified of *her*, my mom. I had never seen a man before, and I didn’t really know it was my mom. All I saw was a man where my mom used to be, and I freaked out. So she, still freaking out herself, grabbed me and hugged me and told me it was okay, it was mom. And I started to recognize her voice, and her smell, and I realized it really was mom. She still smelled like mom, like fresh baked cookies, even though her face wasn’t mom’s face anymore.<br><br>Something told me to believe her, to trust her, even when my brain was screaming at me to run. She said it was okay, that a lot of people were waking up changed today. So we sat down on the couch, and she held me, and I sat there, touching her hand, her arm, confirming that it really was mom. And I guess it really was.<br><br>Then we texted dad. Mom was still freaking out pretty bad, but she managed to calm herself down enough to text him to come home. She couldn’t go to work today as a man, and dad needed to pick me up from school anyway.<br><br>Then she looked at me, and she looked scared, and she said “What if your father doesn’t recognize me?”<br><br>I said “Of course he will, you smell like mom still. And I’ll let him borrow some of my perfume too if you want.”<br><br>She smiled, and she hugged me, and she told me she loved me. We sat like that for a while, until dad got home. And when he did, mom explained the situation to him, and he nodded, and said “I thought you looked different.” Mom cried, and dad hugged her, and I smiled, knowing that he recognized her.<br><br>Then I had to get ready for school, and mom helped me. She’s still the best mom ever. Today I have gym, and I was worried because obviously she isn’t a girl anymore, and so obviously she can’t go into the locker room with me. But she promised she would, and she came with me to school, and stuck by my side the whole time.<br><br>She even came to class with me, and sat in the back, and listened as we discussed the news, and all the people who woke up this way. She looked pretty bored, but she sat through it like a trooper.<br><br>She even walked me to the bus, and came with me home, even though she wasn’t allowed to. Nobody said anything though. All they saw was a man.<br><br>I still can’t get used to the idea of a man being my mom, but I’m working on it. She’s still my mom, even if doesn’t smell exactly right anymore, or if her face is different. She’s still the same person, no matter what, and I know it in my bones.<br><br>I’m not stupid. I know that with the way things are, it might be best if I don’t let people know that my “dad” is actually my mom.<br><br>And I still can’t get used to the idea of a man being mom, but even after only eighteen hours, I’ve realized I can live with it.<br><br>So far, it’s not a problem.