A friend stopped by yesterday with her daughter who is in 6th grade. We were having a nice visit and chatting about our lives, when I turned to her daughter and asked how school was going, "I don't like middle school, I miss elementary" she said. We chatted about her school and I eventually changed the subject, because I could tell she was not happy about school at all.
I had always told my girls that middle school was hard, but high school is better because then you can just be who you are and not try to live up to the unrealistic middle school standard that everyone has to be the same or they are weird. My heart went out to my friend's daughter. She is tender hearted and I am sure that the mindset of the average middle school student does not tolerate tender hearts well.
I will not bore you once again about my horrific middle school years, but I can tell you I was the butt of many school jokes. I also had a flashback this morning when I realized my Mom was no help to me at all. In middle school my Mom bought a hunter orange knit cap for me to wear so that she could see me walking home from the bus. Let me at least share that a pimple faced girl with no self esteem or self worth wearing a bright orange knit hat was not running with the "popular" kids. I had no real support or understanding coming from my home team.
One thing that stands out about that time in my life is the fact that I am a different person today because of that time in my life. I feel that I am more caring and less likely to judge because I know how painful that can be. I know right now I cannot tell my friend's daughter that these hard times will make her a better person. I also know that this girl is surrounded by a loving family which will help make this time easier to tolerate. I am certain that she is going to be OK down the road; she is just going to have to walk the road, sans bright orange hat (thankfully) and emerge a stronger more compassionate woman in just a few years. I have to agree with my young friend, I do not like middle school either.
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