We are in week 3 of middle school here at the Humpfreeze house.
The middle school transition may be the most difficult – in my opinion.
Mostly I think this because it’s been rougher than the first batch of older three Humpfreeze and their transition to high school or college.
Side note: Well, that’s if you skip that first week of 8th grade which was not only the darling twins middle school transition but also their public school transition as we homeschooled in their 7th grade and K-6th grade was in private school…sorry drifting down memory lane…that first week of 8th grade public school where Wizzy saw a knife in a girl’s purse and reported it to a teacher and then we spent some conference time with a counselor and administrator covering it up so the brand new school wouldn’t get a black mark and the girl didn’t get expelled because zero tolerance in the handbook didn’t apply to the knife or that particular girl. Pretty sure that was the longest run-on sentence I’ve ever written. Oh, the fun was really just beginning as The Bubble began to pop with the exposure to all the things I had kept hidden for so long.
Middle school is the age – again just my opinion – where the kids have outgrown a lot of the cuteness and it takes a whole lot of extra love and patience to not ground these children until high school graduation. You just don’t hear a lot of people saying things like “Look at that group of middle school kids, aren’t they adorable?” They are struggling to become more independent but are not quite old enough for any real freedom from those darn parents.
Week 1 of Middle School
Scary Baby’s first week was so smooth we were scared. We’re not pessimists but we knew it was the calm before the storm but we praised her independence. She got up every morning and got herself ready with time to spare. (She saves quite a bit of time by not brushing her hair – a story for another day.) Five days in a row of smoothly going to school is close to a record. Sorry, still no picture.
Week 2 of Middle School
Tuesday, day six. It is crucial that she get her instrument for orchestra T-O-N-I-G-H-T because she will be the only one without an instrument if we don’t take her to the music store right now. We had already spent a good deal of time discussing instrument selection and were unable to convince her that we thought band would be a better choice than orchestra. Never mind our reasons – none of us are musical unless you count the fact that we all have iPods and some of us love, love, love country music.
We simply supported her decision to choose orchestra. In an imaginary coin toss she chooses the viola over the violin. We don’t know why and we don’t care. We are just glad it is not the cello or bass.
Surely you know by now that Saint PhilBillPaul took her that very night to get the last rental viola in the state of Georgia.
And even though we have learned that some nasty little middle school boy commented that her viola was “obviously used” she has been loud and proud about her new acquisition.
Middle school boys are icky.
Wednesday, Day Seven.
It’s all over. She visited the clinic because her stomach hurt. We do not want the clinic to get to know Scary Baby better than the entire student body. We hoped we had left this elementary school legacy behind her. Thank goodness her very sweet and darling brother was available to take some magical Tums® to the clinic so she could finish her day.
I will write part two of this glorious day what transpired that evening in another post.
The best part of this lengthy story about middle school?
When The Grunter entered the middle school office, he says the receptionist was a wee bit busy texting under her desk and looked up quickly and said to him,
“Checking in?”
I’m still laughing that he could have checked himself in as an 8th grader. 7th grader? He turns 21 next month. My poor pumpkin.
I also told him he should have checked in, went to an 8th grade class, sat down and then we could have broke a giant news story about some security risks in the school system since a 20 year-old got past the front desk and could have done harm.
Might have made up for the “covering up the knife in the purse incident” that I’m obviously still holding a grudge about.
Just sayin’
Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions on how to make the middle school transition less overwhelming? It’s obvious that I’m way too old to have a middle school child and poor Scary Baby gets the short end of the parenting stick…
One year ago..
mmmmm, my first thoughts having been through this 4 times ( that would be 3 kids and my OWN experience) is that yes, besides our sons, middle school boys are icky.
Patience, patience, patience.
Lots of love and perhaps a king size bottle of tums.
Sorry ..its early. My “profound wisdom” brain cells are still asleep.
Jenn Ross recently posted..Aren’t we all kind of a Big Deal
Middle school is the worst!! Sorry, no that doesn’t really help but all I can do is agree with you. I do have one question though – how would band have been any different than orchestra? Wouldn’t she still have had to have an instrument?
My girls chose chorus in 6th grade and Noah chose band in 5th grade (because at GWA almost all of the kids choose band). It is an awesome band – nationally acclaimed, award-winning and all that. He did wrestling last year so be thankful you’ve got a girl. This year he’s trying football for the first time. I know most kids start sooner but we tried basketball and baseball in rec leagues. Weren’t all that impressed even though all the folks around here seem to do it. I’m talking live their LIVES at some park on Saturdays and practice every night of the week??? I just couldn’t do it. Call me a bad mom.
We just thought she would ultimately have more fun in band than in orchestra if she sticks it out. Also there were more choices for instruments than just the stringed variety.
Sorry, but I know you’re NOT a bad mom so I can’t call you one!
I’ve ‘done’ the middle school thing now for 24 years (and that’s not counting my 2 children and my own experience!). Middle school is certainly a time of transition…new school, new classmates, new schedules, new opportunities, new teachers, ever changing hormones, finding their niche. Because I know you all at the Humpfreeze house, I know you’re already doing these things: downplay the negative (unless there’s a knife involved! omg!) and the drama and emphasize the positive. Following established routines and early bedtimes help a lot. Extra attention given at home to the new middle schooler for about the 1st quarter of school seems to help (help/support in getting homework done, playing board games, reading to them before bedtime–yes, still as middle schoolers–are all helpful. It is REALLY tough to be a kid at this age.
Really great advice and I swear it applies to high school too (well, maybe not the reading before bedtime but then again I think The Grunter would like that still – lol)! Thanks for the great tips.
I HATED middle school, but both of my boys actually did quite well through it. Sure there were typical issues but I think they would look back and say at least 1-2 out of the 3 were great years. Who says that about MS? OK I’m still laughing about the checked out chick who wanted to “check in” your son! It reminded me of a similar experience at restaurants with children’s menus and cups with lids given when they were much too old.
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I actually disliked high school even more than middle school. Go figure.
Oh we have some good stories about children’s menus – I may have to blog about it!
Biggest thing I noticed as a 7th grade English teacher (my Typo Tuesday cover is blown!) was that the students entered my class wanting to do well for about the first six weeks. Around week seven it had been decided who was “cool,” and if the “cool” person wasn’t one of the “smarter” kids, then most of the other students began to take their schoolwork less seriously. I would pray that she find a wealth of smart, “uncool” friends so that she won’t seek peer acceptance from that “cool” girl. Knowing Scarey Baby this should be no problem.
Poor Grunter! Had the opposite experience this week. While speaking with an “under 30″ at the charge card company and giving my husband’s birth year as 1957, I was asked, “So are you both retired?” Ummm, math was obviously not her strongest subject. I asked her to let me know if she discovered a way to retire at age 53. Wonder if she has a Granny at Kroger???
Okay—got to clarify here. What I meant by the “Knowing Scarey Baby” comment above was that she knows her own mind and I can’t see her seeking to become a “minion” to the “cool” girls. In the re-reading I could see two ways to take the comment above and just wanted you to be sure that I have complete confidence in SB.