It’s been a little over a month since Ayva started kindergarten, and I’m incredibly amazed at the young scholar my baby girl is becoming. Every week she comes home with all of the work she’s completed in class in a folder, and it’s hard to believe that she does that much in less than 6 hours each day. The thing that I’ve found that I like the most about kindergarten (because, of course, that matters. Ha!) is the homework bag that Ayva brings home every Friday.

Each homework bag has a different theme, and the teachers stuff the tote with engaging activities that encourages critical thinking, while allowing the children to practice skills like handwriting and reading. The biggest difference between kindergarten and preschool is that there’s been a major switch from teaching the children about the things around them, to more introspective and self focused projects. It’s super sweet to watch how thoughtful Ayva is when she’s thinking of an answer to a question like, Who is your favorite friend and why?

This week’s homework was all about finding out how she got her name. She had to interview me to find out the answer, and it sent me down memory lane to think about why I decided to name my baby Ayva Grace. Alright, so Ava is a derivative of Eva which comes from Eve. “Eve” translates into life or source of life in Hebrew. When I was pregnant with Ayva and considering names, I wanted something that signified life.

Ayva Changed My Life

Ayva being born changed everything in my life. I’ve written before about how I was really just on a path of self-destruction when I became pregnant with her. I think the overwhelming sadness of just being me was thisclose to taking me out. Ayva gave me something to live for, and my heart was opened again when I had her. Thus Eve / Eva / Ava was my choice. The Y came from me just being Black. Haha! Really, I think creative names, or unique spellings of names is part of our DNA. I also like all of the straight lines AYVA. Very cool looking, right?

I decided on the middle name Grace to pay honor to God’s grace that He had shown me throughout the entire pregnancy, and in my life in general. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, that should have gone wrong, but He took care of me, and I never wanted to forget it. Grace is also the main character in one of my most favorite children’s books, “Amazing Grace”, so it was doubly suiting to give that name to my baby girl.

That’s how Ayva got HER name. How did your little one get their name? Tell me in the comments below, or join the FB conversation. It’s really interesting to hear the stories of why folks got the names they did, and I’d really love to know your story!