Middle School Mama Observations

I think Presidents deserve more than one day of honor and celebration.
I think I deserve a day to recover from the day off.
I think Tuesdays should never feel like Mondays.

We visited some of our oldest and dearest friends over the long weekend, and we had a great time. But... getting home late and facing Mt. Laundry was not how I wanted to start my week. Even if it is a short week.
So instead of going to the grocery store or doing laundry or unpacking or working on our taxes or anything else productive, I caught up on Facebook and looked through my drafts of blog posts. When I am in a bloggity funk, I tend to start posts but never finish. This morning, I inhaled a 2nd cup of coffee and finished this one.


The boy is halfway through his first official year of Middle School.
Pheeeeeew. (That was me... breathing a big sigh of relief.)
Sometimes I think I would like to be knocked out cold for the next 6 years and then jolted awake on his graduation day. But then I realize all the great things I would miss.
I want to be fully present for the driving test, the first date, the school dances, and all that other fun stuff. I may have to be heavily medicated, but I want to be there.
I want to savor every moment.

Until then, I've been making observations. Middle School is a whole new world. Actually, it's more like a different planet. These are a few of the observations I've made as the mom of a new Middle Schooler...

1. Middle Schoolers are very wiggly. Almost as wiggly as toddlers. They may try to act cool, but they can't stop moving. I have to roll slowly through the car line in fear that one of them is going to wiggle off the sidewalk.

2. Middle Schoolers like to test limits. Well, all kids do this, but Middle Schoolers take limits as a personal challenge. Again - in the car line - they stand their wiggly selves as CLOSETOTHECURB as possible... increasing the chance one of them will pop off the sidewalk in front of my car.

3. Middle School teachers need a raise. A big one.

4. Middle School kids either do not watch the weather forecast or they have superhuman temperature resistance powers. I see shorts and sandals on days when it's sleeting. I see furry boots and zipped up jackets when my AC is running.

5. Middle Schoolers are perpetually embarrassed by their parents, and they have good reason. Dads should not pick up their kids at school wearing a tank top. (See previous post.) Not only is your child humiliated, but the rest of us are nauseated. "Lounge wear" is another story... I drop the boy off at school wearing my pjs at least 3 times a week.

6. A lot of Middle School teachers, parents, and administrators think all Middle School kids are punks with bad attitudes. Some off them are, but most of them are sweet kids with good hearts trying to navigate this scary new world. But some of them are punks. Some of the sweet good-hearted ones act like punks from time to time. Mine included.

7. Middle School kids eat like wild starving horses and still look cute in skinny jeans.

8. Middle School kids need approximately 15.8 hours of sleep each day. This was a beautiful discovery for us, because the boy never slept past 5:00 am as a baby. He ran on fumes for 11 years. Now, he sleeps. Praise God.

9. Middle Schoolers are not too cool for notes in their lunch box, Capri Suns, and Goldfish crackers. Don't let them fool you.

10. You can still smooch your Middle Schooler before he gets out of the car in the mornings. Just get it done at the red light down the street from the school, and make sure no one is looking.

Happy Fat Tuesday, friends.