It is not easy being a sixth grader. Your body is changing, other people's bodies are changing. You've got your girl drama and although most people don't believe it, you've got boy drama too. I should know as the mama of three sons. Sometimes your nose is outgrowing the rest of your body, an occasional blemish will show up unexpectedly to your horror, I bet we all are glad to be over and done with sixth grade, right? 
My youngest OS is a little sixth grader who is looking forward to school today. He normally simply tolerates school. My bookends, the oldest and the youngest OS, are certainly different from one another. Nate's at West Point, doing extremely well in every aspect. Ike's in middle school. He has to work hard to maintain good grades and would much rather be on a basketball court or at a friend's house. Poor Isaac, his dumb parents stress the importance of education so he has no choice but to do homework and keep learning. Woe is he.
Today is an extra special day because in Science class, they are going to suture a pig's foot. They are studying skin disorders and a special guest, Dr. Saad will show the sixth graders how to do it. Ike's teacher, Mrs. Hamo thinks that the students are mature enough to handle this. Ike thinks otherwise. Although he is confident he has the intestinal fortitude to handle the procedure. "If it were a liver or something, that would be disgusting," he commented to me just before leaving for school, Ike has heard that people have passed out AND thrown up in the past. I can't wait to hear about all the theatrics quite honestly.
Ike stated that suturing a pig's foot will definitely be a step above one of the most recent lessons in Mrs. Hamo's Science class. Again, the class was studying skin but this time they learned about...are you ready? Do you think you can handle this? Are you sure? Ok, it was on...(begin rolling eyes)...mammary glands.
Did you know that mammary glands are only found in females? True! Ike said he didn't necessarily know that helpful fact but I think my 12 year old could have lived a LONG time without that piece of knowledge. Apparently he wasn't alone because the entire class erupted into laughter. Can you say AWKWARD!
Why, I can still fondly recall the special assembly at Jefferson Junior High in Naperville, Illinois. No boys were allowed. It was just for girls and we watched a movie in the gym. It was about menstruation and I seriously wanted to die. If my memory serves me right, I think there was a girl riding on a horse and after that, everything was a blur. She seemed so happy even on her period. "Kill me. Kill me, now," I desperately pleaded as I sat on the aluminum folding chair.
I'll let you know how Ike handles today and I suppose I won't be able to use actual names in the post though for fear of even more sixth grade troubles.
Does anyone else have a special middle school memory that just won't leave your mind no matter how hard you try?
4 comments:
"THE" assembly was a biggie. To this day, however, I still don't know what the boys talked about????
Is that a joke...or is her name really 'Hammo'. Because just this morning I was laughing about a coach from high school whose name was 'Coach Loss' (I had never thought about it before). I also know a ''Pastor Sin' and a dentist named Dr. Payne'. Can you say, "Rabbit trail?"
My worst middle school memory was the day I was late (I should say 'late-er')and forgot to wear a bra. As I was running toward the bus stop, I recall that things were bouncier than usual but didn't clue in until I plopped into my bus seat. It was not a good day.
I had on a bandana print western-style shirt with *snaps* all the way up the front. I must have had images of the shirt snapping all the way open! Bless that middle school me!
I LOVE sixth graders!! They are my favorite age to teach. Still interested in school (well, you know) and wanting to make teacher happy, and just beginning to get interested in each other (again, you know), but not so much that they're no longer engaged (in class, that is). Such a great age!!
One of my good middle school memories centers around the dissection of a pig! :)
My horror of horrors middle school memory is that in the seventh grade, a boy named Paul (not my husband, but isn't that ironic?) put a note in my locker asking me to "go with" him. Yikes! That, seriously, was horror. I freaked out and wrote less than nice things and stuffed it back in his locker and wished forward to the invention of hand sanitizer.
Speaking of disinfecting, let's hope that pig didn't have the flu! :)
(Hillcrest, my friend's husband's urologist was named Dr. Chop!)
Actually Mrs. Hamo's name is correct. I did however know of a math teacher at my high school, Miss Gaworski, who I think fit her name. She was large, mean and was missing a finger. Quite masculine too, as I recall. I believe she almost caught me cutting class in the bathroom and everyone tried to avoid Miss Gaworski at all costs.
I remember very clearly the puberty lesson the counselor gave my 5th grade class. Needless to say, I was disturbed and made to feel very awkward.
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