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| I have a running SNL style parody-commercial for middle school in my head! |
Monday night I sat in my daughter's room as she cried, afraid of what middle school might bring. I talked to her about how the unknown is hard. How you must take a deep breath and put one foot in front of the other and just move forward. In that sense, it isn't so bad. Once you are in motion, you'll keep going. What I didn't say is that while the unknown is scary, it isn't as bad as what I know is ahead.
There is going to be a group that she doesn't fit into. There is going to be a group that fits just right but still has its own little dramas. There will be hormones that make her cry when nothing is wrong and massive piles of clothes on the floor on days when she has "nothing to wear." There will be pimples on her sweet baby face and braces on her teeth. There will be an unrequited crush (or two). There will be a test that our A-student tanks and then a moment where she has to decide to lie about it or be honest. There will be a party that she isn't invited to and a concert that I won't allow though the other parents say it is okay. Social media will hurt her feelings because of something she sees there or because I don't allow her to have it. There will be pressures old and new to do and try things that she shouldn't. Friendships will change and the lunchroom pecking order will suck no matter where you sit. I don't know what, but something embarrassing will happen that she will remember forever. These are. the. facts.
I wish I had a good paragraph to write here about how I am going to love her through it or how I have an amazing plan that will bring my baby through this unscathed, confidence in tact. I wish I could send her back to elementary school where she was loved and well-cared for with me just six houses away. I wish I could fast forward the bad parts and promise her bestie will always be her bestie forever. But it is all unknown to me. So I am just going to take a deep breath and put one foot in front of the other. Once we are in motion, we'll keep going.....
1 comment:
Suzanne, this was one of the best posts I've read in a long time! Everything you "predict" is true. It is hard watching our kids go through the rough spots, and it is tough on us parents to watch and know exactly what to do in each situation. Sometimes we're brilliant, and sometimes we make mistakes. I've been there, first through middle school, now in high school. And soon, I will go through it with it college - letters of rejection, difficult roommates, hard work! Oy! I'll remember to put one foot in front of the other, and keep going!
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