Karma, baby

When I was in the 6th grade, our beloved Home-Ec teacher went on an extended maternity leave during which the school found a perfectly lovely substitute teacher to fill in. Little did Mrs. Tipton know, she was about to enter a lions den populated by gossipy, snarky, hormonal and to be honest, MEAN 11 and 12 year old lionesses with sarcastic attitides, eyes rolling, and back-handed compliment claws sharpened and ready to rip her to shreds. Poor lady, she never had a chance.

Act 1: A classroom full of noisy middle schoolers sitting on top of their desks, throwing balls of pie crust across the room, cussing and generally ignoring the frazzled teacher who is desperately trying to begin class.

Scene 1: (A hand shoots up) "Uh, Mrs. Tipton?", "Yes, Kristen" she unwittingly answers... "when is your baby due?"(a quartet of muffled giggles erupt) The decidedly NOT pregnant Mrs. Tipton goes home that night, eats a salad for dinner and cries herself to sleep.

Scene 2: Next Day (Another hand shoots up) "Uh, Mrs. Tipton?", "Yes, Lisa" she cautiously replies, "I looove your eyeliner, maybe you can show us how to put ours on like that!" (a choir of convulsive snickering ensues). Mrs. Tipton goes home that night, washes off what's left of her eyeliner after sobbing all the way home and cries herself to sleep after eating another salad for dinner.

Scene 3: Maybe 2 weeks later: (Yet another hand shoots up) "Oh, Mrs. Tipton", "Yes, Jennifer" she grudgingly answers. "How many grand kids do you have?".(full on symphony of riotous laughter fills the room) Mrs. Tipton, who is maybe 35, goes home that night, eats a salad for dinner, washes her face, slathers on anti-age cream, cries herself to sleep and then calls in sick forever the next morning.

THE END

The moral to the story: I am now coaching a cheerleading squad consisting of 17, 6th and 7th grade girls. Can you say Cosmic payback boys and girls?

P.S. My cheerleaders do not even come close to this, THANK GOODNESS! In fact they are pretty great, but Lindsey gearing up to start middle school next week has got me reminiscing...good times? OH CRAP, maybe I should home school her!

Growing up too fast

I was reading one of my favorite blogs yesterday(iambossy.com)she is great BTW, be sure to check her out and she has a section labeled "favorite things". Her most recent favorite thing had to do with the stage her daughter is in right now, perched precariously between little girl and teen.

Lindsey is so in this exact same place right now, hovering between those two worlds. She is getting ready to start middle school in a few weeks and watching her slowly emerge from and retreat back into the cocoon of childhood in the the wide world of adolescence is something. She carries a purse now, but it is mostly filled with Pokemon cards and candy- gotta love that. As I watched her teetering off and tripping in her new, grown-up wedge heeled sandals to chase her brother up a tree after church, it seemed to be such a clear illustration of the threshold she is on. The other day, she played Polly Pockets in her room for half the day. Maybe she too, is aware of the changes coming all too soon and was stealing a few moments while she can, to hold on to the little girl she is about to leave behind.

I hope more than anything that she never let's go of those little girl qualities I admire so much in her like, optimism, trust, confidence, honesty. The transition can be hard as I recall. I know it was a painful one for me as I vividly remember being thrust into a world where my peers and myself were all of a sudden self-conscious for the first time, trying to fit in, more concerned about appearing "cool" than anything else and suddenly and unexpectedly feeling pressured to shed any traces of our little girl selves.

I think she will thrive. I know she will. She has always been sure of her self and unafraid of being different and setting her own course. As she teeters off to adolescence in her grown up shoes, I pray with all my might that she always has candy in her purse to help sweeten the inevitable sour notes that will accompany her from time to time on her journey. I will of course, be ready and willing to scoop her up and kiss her boo-boos if she will let me. Oh man do I hope she lets me.

Promises

So, it finally happened. My son, the one who still loves for me to lie down in bed with him, the one who gives me unsolicited hugs and kisses and still snuggles with me on the couch while we watch "Deadliest Catch"... refused to kiss OR hug me in front of the other kids when we were dropping him off for camp. This wasn't just day camp either, this was a 10 day overnighter 5 hours away from home and I needed me some Treybie luvins and I got the side-hug, brush-off. I guess I wasn't realistically surprised, I knew this day would probably come eventually, but it was heartbreaking all the same.

When he was 3, he promised me he would remain 3. Again at 4, the same promise. Yet, here he is, 9 1/2. Little liar. That's OK. He promised the other night that when he grows up, he will get married and move in right next door to us and come visit me from "12-4 every day." His wife is just going to LOVE me.