Prepping For Middle School
We’ve got like, two weeks until Tiny Ninja officially becomes a middle school hooligan.
Two weeks.
I don’t know about him, but I am terrified. I’m terrified in that please-don’t-bully-my-baby-and-make-him-a-sniveling-mess-like-I-was kind of way.
Middle school can be a tough place, man. I know this personally. Kinda like jail. You can’t show fear or be different or stand out IN ANY WAY. Or you’ll be EATEN ALIVE.
Which is why my own life was “challenging” in junior high.
Why? Let’s see…
- My family didn’t have a lot of money. Meaning, I had old, hand me down clothing from my aunts to wear. (You read that right. My aunts.) In my middle school, the nerds were separated from the cool kids pretty quickly by sight. Either you wore Polo shirts or you didn’t. You either shopped at Express or Kmart. If you shopped at Express you were immediately at a higher social level then the rest of the crew. I didn’t even shop at Kmart. I shopped in my Aunt Donna’s closet. Made me stand out… just a bit.
- I was one of the first to get boobs. When you are 12 and hoping to blend into the wallpaper, boobs are not your best friend. Boys kinda notice and, um, stare. I’ll never forget Shawn G. telling his friends that I had “a great bod but and ugly face.” Yeah. That will build up a middle school gal’s confidence. I hid under sweaters for years. (Notice that I still remember that remark?)
- My mom made me play in the hand bell choir. Enough said.
My son is a naive sweet little guy. School is harder for him then most. I’m just hoping life is kind and he finds his way through the middle school maze a little easier than his mom did and … that he stays the hell away from bell choir.
So, does anyone out there have any advice for me?
BTW – If your child is in a similar stage of life, and you have similar worries, you may find these articles helpful:
- Kid’s Biggest Middle School Fears
- Learning Disabilities in Middle School
- What’s Normal, What’s Not (Changes in your Tween)
I love the look of your new blog, and I love the sincerity of your posts.
Jr high was tough, I had NO boobs…which was just as bad.
I’d be told , “hey, Al, good thing your name works for both girls and boys…because you look like a guy!”
Nice, huh?
Anyway, I can tell you that both my boys sailed through Jr high, no problems.
Maybe it was bad only for girls?
Alexandra recently posted..Im Gonna Kill Him
Of COURSE I have advice for you.
Jen, no need to warn him about any of the dangers of middle school. Just get him excited about all the positives.
More often than not, parents are the ones that scare their children into sticky situations. If your kid doesn’t know something is out to get him, he won’t even notice it.
If he is keeping his eye out for being teased, etc, he’ll focus on it when it’s not necessary.
Confident kids are confident not always because they are courageous, but mostly because they’re not focusing on negligible things like getting teased when there’s more important thing to focus on… like… his passions.
Anthony recently posted..How to Make Your Child More Expressive and Yourself Less Boring
My son is in 5th grade which is considered middle school here. We were lucky and didn’t see any bully this past year but I’m sure it went down. He had a friend that is quite small for his age and he felt pressure but not enough to have it affect him. Our school does a good job of separating the 7th and 8th graders from the 5th and 6th, so there isn’t that big of an age difference.
So far so good, I guess. Good luck to your little guy. I think the biggest thing is not letting him feel small or different. Because whatever you do and feel they will feel the same and probably worse!
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Megan
1 Funky Woman recently posted..Last Day of Freedom!
This is my first time at your blog so don’t know if I have a right to leave advice but…I will. Here goes.
1. You will get through this and he will too.
2. Pick your battles and stick to them. Make them few and let him have choices.
3. Remember he still really needs you even if he doesn’t acknowledge it.
4. Enjoy every minute for soon he will be gone. I have two in college and I’d do anything for middle school again.
Love you blog!
I had the same, no take that back. I had some of the same worries for my daughter going into middle school 2 years ago. I had NO boobs, I got kicked out of choir (but that was in high school) and didn’t get my aunts hand me downs but I totally get where you are coming from.
We moved from a very, VERY small town where the school was K-12 to a town where they have umpteen elementary schools, 2 middle schools, a school for the 9th grade and 2 high schools. I was expecting to have to take off work to help our daughter adjust to the school. I have to tell you, I think middle school is harder on the parents than it is on the children. I was nearly in tears the first day of middle school. My daughter, heck she was a pro at this middle school thing.
Best of Luck!
Just ask him whats going on at school often. It wasnt until my daughter was out of school that she told me about all the things she seen and hated.
I was so worried when my youngest went to middle school for the same reasons you are worried about your guy. He is done with the 8th grade this week and survived. the same sweet spirit that made me worried about him in the first place is the sweet spirit that got him through. Now, I have to worry about high school!
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