LilZ starts back to school in less than two weeks. Can you believe that crap? That summer is already over? How did that happen and where was my vacation? When did I relax and enjoy the break? When did he relax and enjoy the break? How is it that I now have a 7th-grader? Am I going to survive this year?
7th grade was my worst year in school. I had a teacher who I felt like hated me, I had a principal/science teacher who assigned us research papers that required trips to the University Library. Example: “Comparative Anatomy of Invertebrates: The Nervous System.” Yes, I had to write that paper in the 7th grade, if you can believe it. Talking about being baptized by fire into the world of research. I still have nightmares over that paper. Not to mention the one about Wild Boars or the Scopes Monkey Trials. It was like I was in hell and Satan really enjoyed complex bibliographies.
I also had a tough time with my physical self. My hair was getting curlier and curlier and I had no clue what to do with it. So I pulled it back all the time. My acne was developing (Kids in my after-school-care program actually called me Pizza Face. So Original.), I was wearing braces with the headgear, and I had those awesome black glasses that Judith Light wore in “Who’s The Boss.” I didn’t know anything about fashion, partly because I wore a uniform everyday and didn’t have to think about it. But I was getting old enough to WANT to understand fashion, so my lack of any style was depressing.
So - this is the year I’ve been fearing for LilZ. Luckily, he’s totally good-looking and confident so he shouldn’t have anywhere near the meltdown I did. He gets 7 teachers instead of just one so if one hates him it won’t matter. He is funny and smart and has loads of friends. He is even doing this awesome elective that was offered to him after he auditioned for it, and it will put him in the spotlight a little this year. He will probably look back on this year as his favorite - which just shows how different he and I were at the same age. And this gives me hope for his future.
If there is anything I am thankful for the most - is that even though LilZ and I are a lot alike in temperament and personality - he is very different from the 12-year-old version of me. He is simply cool and that is the exact opposite of what I was in 7th grade. Hopefully he is very grateful for this difference, it will hopefully allow him to complete Junior High will far less offensive nicknames than I did.
It’s sounds like LilZ is going to have a great year. Seventh grade was … um, not so much fun for me either.
7th wasn’t my worst but it wasn’t all that good either.
Wishing LilZ the best year.
It seems that junior high was/is horrific for all…there’s really no way to avoid it. When I was in 8th grade, I had to write a 25-page research paper on the role of the American Red Cross in World War 1….with footnotes and endnotes. I’ve never had to write a paper that long again…and I have a Master’s Degree.
Hope LilZ has a fantastic year!
LilZ’s cool because he’s got a cool mom!
Wow - school starts already?! In the SOUTH?! Your school DOES have A/C, right??!!
Toad doesn’t start until the end of August!
Any chance we get to see a picture of Zoot in those awesome Judith Light glasses???
LOL.
Just teasing.
Yes, seventh grade was an experience I don’t even want to recall, let alone share.
I’m sure 7th grade will be fine for LilZ. My daughter starts 7th grade this year also. I’m not concerned for her but my son will be going to HS, ugh, that is where my concern is!
I think 7th grade was my worst school year ever. I moved to a new school when everyone else had been going there for 2 years, and the girls there had things I didn’t (makeup and boobs being two of th emost obvious ones). They bullied me relentlessly.
*shudder*
8th grade was so much better…
I hope I didn’t lose my comment.
Dammit, I did. I have to get the kids down for their nap. Then I will come back and re-type it.
7th grade was definitely the hardest for me too. I wonder if all girls felt gawky and ugly at that age…I wouldn’t want to relive that stage in my life for anything.
I wonder what you think of the uniform thing in retrospect? I grew up down the street from a Catholic school and always thought wearing a uniform would be awful. (This probably had a lot to do with being a tomboy and hating skirts.)
It’s funny to me now, because I had zero fashion sense and would so clearly have benefited from not having to compete style-wise with the other kids. And I imagine when I have kids, I would not at all mind if they have to wear uniforms, but I suspect they would.
7th grade was so hard. Very weird dealing with new people, new teachers, new schools, lockers, and everything to do with relationships with friends.
He looks like the cool laid back kid, they always just breeze through. They only come in male form though in junior high, as a teacher I have yet to see any girl who goes through junior high “normal”.
7th was by far the worst year ever for me. Good luck to LilZ.
Ooooh, 7th grade! I think LilZ will do well this year. My oldest is starting Kinder and I can’t imagine what it will be like when he hits 7th!
Two weeks? HOLY COW! Mine have about 5 weeks left (and as much as I said I wouldn’t, I’m counting EVERY week (soon to be day).
7th grade was horrid for me, and pretty bad at times for Colleen too (she’s going into 8th now). But it was also a good year for her finding some GREAT friends that have stuck by her and also friends from 6th grade have also stood by her and helped her get through a year that is tough for almost everyone.
I hope you have a peaceful and fun 7th grade year….
dori (www.criscollrj.com/Blog) who may soon have the nerve to post her atrocious 7th grade class picture…
I have a boy starting 6th grade this year, in which he will be in junior and start changing classes. I also hope my boy will not be as shy and self-critical as I was. He’s much more confident of himself than I was! But his mouth . . . he’s not afraid of confronting anyone, and it gets him in trouble . . . ug.
Maybe, just maybe, Lil Z is doing so well because he has an awesome Mom!
7th grade was my worst year too - for all of the reasons you mentioned. I already worry about my 2.5 year old going to middle school! But, it sounds like you don’t have much to worry about with LilZ - I’m sure he will do really well.
You will survive. 3rd grade was MY worst grade and I have now survived that with the youngest of 3 boys. MY oldest is now going into 10th grade and my stepson has already been out of college for quite a few years. It REALY does all pass so quickly, so try to enjoy watching the struggles.