As in many other families, our boys returned to school this week. One third grader, one fifth grader, one sixth grader and an eighth grader; four different personalities with bulging backpacks and mixed emotions.
Our third grader seemed relatively ambivalent to the whole thing. He was most excited by the Super Heroes pencil case the school supplies bunny brought him and his new purple school bag because that’s the favorite color of his big bad eighth grader brother. However, it does not appear to have dawned on him yet that he has reached a level of independence he has not experienced before. This has occurred because the security previously provided has moved on, with our sixth grader, to middle school. Our third grader is his own man who will do beautifully testing the waters of independence, judgment and decision making.
Our fifth grader is happy to be at the top of the school finally and looking forward to having, for the first time, a male teacher. Not that he hasn’t enjoyed his female teachers, and they him for that matter, but he has heard good things about Mr. S. He is strict but fun apparently, a combination that could work wonderfully for this intelligent boy who sometimes thinks that he doesn’t need school because he already knows how to do everything. Hopefully Mr S. won’t have to be too strict before our fifth grader gets to have some fun!
Our sixth grader was nervous about middle school with its different teachers for each class and moving to different classrooms between each class. Most of all he was nervous about his locker. It is small and he is a hoarder but worse than that the combination lock required jiggling, standing on one leg and getting the exact twist of the wrist when the sun is in the right aspect. No amount of reassuring seemed to convince him that before long he would have it mastered and he become even more nervous at the prospect of being late for class. I am pleased to report that as of day two he could gain access in less than 10 seconds; undoubtedly a record!
Our eighth grader got up early to walk to the first day of school with our fifth grader. The sweetness touched me and we walked the two blocks together happily chatting and discussing the year ahead. In the fashion of a parent always looking to plant a seed, I noted that both boys would be at the top of their schools and had the opportunity to be leaders and set positive examples. Our eighth grader seemed to like that idea until he realized that meant that next year he would be starting over again. How quickly his world came crashing down! I wanted to tell him that this is life and sometimes you are on top and sometimes you are starting over but instead I distracted him with talk of playing football this year. Soaking wet he weighs 81 lbs and is, as he likes to say, fun-sized in stature but he can throw a football far and does not back away from confrontation. That has been his downfall on occasion so if he can channel it on the football field instead of being a tough guy elsewhere his mother won’t have to worry so much when the phone rings and the school number shows on caller ID.
Four unique boys, four separate approaches, four different schools, and one hundred and seventy-seven days to enjoy third, fifth, sixth and eighth grade.
No comments:
Post a Comment