Year One Middle School Finished, Summer Begineth

Posted on by

Honestly, 6th grade went MUCH better than I had anticipated.

YES, we’ve got some hormonal mood swings on top of an-already-I-know-everything/I-have-to-see-it-for-myself attitude.

YES, we had some tears over bullying, some tears from frustration.

Grades were awesome–the fluctuating madness crept back in again this year, but overall grades much better than *my* 6th grade year, for sure. Comments from teachers are what I most look forward to on his report card and they all made me feel proud of my mouthy fella.

Did the ADHD affect things in 6th like they did in 5th? I’m assuming so, but the teachers–STILL–have been so amazing with this creative, loud, active, friendly, helpful, easily-hurt/frustrated-at-times, kid.

Clubs weren’t as amazing as in 5th, and it took a while to get used to the middle school community vs the insane-togetherness of Seed’s elementary school, but we did what we could to feel a part of the group. Volunteered, donated, attended, bonded with some of the teachers by being present.

That was probably the biggest change–some of the kid’s teachers I never spoke to at all. Alas, he’s getting older and having more independence, so I suppose, this is the way. (Thank you to the Mandalorian for sticking that in my head.)

Although, and this is a fun little aside–I was able to help torment my kid at the end of the year. It turns out I knew one of his subs, and so once we figured it out, one day, along with the teacher, they started dropping very personal facts on the kid’s lap. One asked directly about the cats, one asked about a concert he was going to, why he wasn’t going to Camp this summer. He apparently said he was starting to get scared, BWHAHAHAHA. Once it was released that I had something to do with it… he said he would have some words with his Mom.

Love it!

Friends were more scattered even more this year than last. New friends forged, but I still feel like his 3rd and 4th grade friends formed the tightest knit group for some reason. We shall see. He’s still on the look out for his Tribe, and I think once he finds them, he may feel more at-ease.

Once some clubs dropped off in the early part of the year, he took on guitar lessons at a local facility. He can be hard to get to play, but he has a knack for music, an ear for hearing it, perhaps even an eye for reading music. Will he get into chorus next year? Not sure. He chose a bunch of random electives for school, so I can’t wait to see what’s next. We can’t stave off the advanced math and English classes any longer, unfortunately, so he will have to succumb to that for next year. I assume things may be faster paced with less guidance.

I’m sure it will be a learning curve, one that may be tougher to navigate with the ol’ ADHD, but I am also not worried!

The school district sent over some math work to help bridge the gap between 6th and 7th grade, so this is something that he will pick at over the summer. We’ve already had swim lessons galore, the pool, basketball, pickle ball, Blackbeard Festival, Sail Yorktown, and so much more summer to come!

Bullies

Posted on by

Perhaps the hardest part of motherhood isn’t the night feedings, the lack of sleep, the temper tantrums, the power shifts.

It’s probably feeling powerless when it comes to bullies. While my child is an angel (cough-cough-hack), he is by no means blameless to anything that transpires. While he doesn’t deserve name-calling, being pushed around (which, hopefully, this is not an issue), I don’t for oneimagine he does not have a lot to learn in regards to his behavior.

Not just for how to behave after a child torments him, but perhaps, in advance of the torment.

Seed has had a bunch of issues with various kids recently–and this is just what I know about, mind you–and while these other kids sound like monsters (of course!), the common denominator is my kid.

And just so you know, the insults haven’t changed over the years, which is really disheartening. Not just as a mother, but as a member in this society. Where do these kids get these insults from? Hm.

“Gay” and “Sped” seem to be the two insults most flung at my child.

You know, I’m not sure I’ve ever blatantly come out on this platform to discuss the ADHD that lives in our family’s household. Two diagnosed, one highly suspicious–at this rate, I’m sure the cats even have it!

Maybe it’s the ADHD, maybe it’s personality, maybe it’s environment, but Seed

— is outgoing, talkative, flamboyant at times, has ADHD, sometimes emotionally dysregulated, so kind, so empathetic, smart, capable, creative, a back-talker, a truth-stretcher, bossy, hangs out with mostly girls, short —

An. Easy. Target.

At any rate, kids are jerks. Kids are mean. Kids love to latch onto something and beat it into the ground.

I was never good with witty repartee in the moment, especially as a child. So prepping comebacks in advance in hopes of spewing something similar in the moment seems to have trained the wee one’s mouth… at least in one scenario.

Three of the current issues I know about are works-in-progress, if not fully solved.

Bullies suck. Bullies do not live in a vacuum. We try to extend some grace to them, even when it’s sooooo easy not to.

And that’s why my kid is a good one.

Far from perfect. Makes mistakes. But. A good one.

And I reiterate… bullies suck.

No A.I. was used in crafting this piece, but I did use A.I. to generate the image. This was for two reasons. One, I wouldn’t have used an image otherwise, and two, I’m now trying to be A.I.-curious. Not a fan of it, think destroying the earth for it is reckless and sheer lack of boundaries with it is alarming.

Music is the Sound that Binds Us All

Posted on by

Shhhh–this is a secret.

A secret I may have already written about, so then a secret I’m about to re-share because of what’s happening this evening. (To wit, I won’t post until after the event, so think of this portion as a ‘before’).

The kid and I are going to an IMAX viewing of the band Twenty One Pilots’ 2/20/2025 performance in Mexico City with sixty-five THOUSAND of their nearest and dearest friends.

And I can’t wait.

The people who listen to this band are referred to as ‘clikkies’ or just ‘the clique’, so I have no doubt the theatre will be full of the bands’ fans. They’ll be dressed up, probably hand out bracelets that they made just for the event. We were supposed to do that too, but ran out of time.

The kid, of course, doesn’t want to go. He complains about every concert I drag him to, saying that it’s not for him. And even as he FALLS ASLEEP at shows and whines all the way, this is also the kid who is constantly singing. So much that, his teachers make note of it.

We have a ton of instruments in the house, and CDs, and streaming tunes. He loved chorus, he loved musical ensemble in 5th grade. I have plans to get him guitar lessons here soon, too.

At any rate, music is the sound that binds us all. Happy, sad, and in between.

The secret –> For every show that the kid has been to, Dad and I have purchased him a t-shirt for the future. I think the plan was to wait until he’s 18–and we’ve inadvertently gotten him various sizes–but the t-shirt from last year’s Twenty One Pilots concert is an adult small.

Now, he’ll probably drown in it (he’s still a little guy), but I’ve laid it out for him to wear tonight if he so chooses. The funny thing is, he’ll have no idea that it’s ACTUALLY HIS.

We’ve got nachos, a soda and M&Ms coming to us for this mother-son date (also a big post-birthday gift to myself). He’s afraid I’m so short he’s going to lose me–but we’ve got primo seats in the back, so that won’t happen.

AFTERWARDS:

All I have to say is —> yay!

Firstly, the 6:21 start with *no* commercials made us happy. I now think concerts’ later start times are the driving force behind Seedling’s unhappiness with concerts! Well, and the loudness. The movie wasn’t as loud as we thought it would be.

We both started to slow down around 8PM, but there wasn’t much left of the show after that anyway!

When it was over, the kid said, “You’re not getting this shirt back! I want it! I also want Ned, and some yellow tape.” Ned and yellow tape have to do with the lore of the band’s songs, but I’m not going to delve into that chaos here! You can research it yourself! It’s a lot.

There were sooooo many baby banditos at this show (another nod to the band’s lore). Seedling instantly felt comfortable, recognizing parents wearing various band t-shirts, hoodies and yellow tape, with their kids dressed like the Skeletons from the band’s earlier albums.

People were casual, nobody was rushed. Everyone was in and out of the lobby, grabbing food, using the restroom.

We slowly walked all the way up to the very back seats, sat down. The theatre wasn’t sold out, but more and more people filled in. When the lights went dark right at 6:21–and mind you, we hadn’t planned on being too early, as the receipt from the purchase said there would be 30 minutes of ads–the show instantly came on.

No ads! Just show!

Some people came in a little after it started, so I’m glad we got there when we did.

Almost instantly music started up, and we witnessed four or five songs from the show before the musicians broke it up with interviews. In two hours, we got to see many of their songs, some that I have never seen performed live.

In front of us, there were a couple of rows of people be-bopping along, and at one point, one little, teeny tiny girl even stood up and started dancing. Overall, our crowd seemed relatively quiet, stealthily dancing along in their seats. If they were singing, we generally couldn’t hear them.

Were we singing along and air drumming and bouncing the whole while? Why yes, yes we were.

Was I super glad to have the wall behind us, and to be pretty isolated? Why yes, yes I was.

As this was IMAX, we had nice seats, and lots of privacy since we were in the back. But it appeared, every so often, that a young kid on the other side of our aisle (and it was interrupted by equipment) would bounce and bop and look over to see what my kiddo was doing. Together, up and down, they were nodding, their heads were moving up and…

Okay, that was too easy. 🤪 Clikkie inside joke there.

A lot of the lyrics to the songs have to do with mental health, faith, the struggles of an emotional life. Some lyrics, and let’s be honest, actual strikes of a key, string, etc., can really get you.

As someone who came from depression and suicidal ideations in her younger years, one of my greatest fears is for my son to go through such things himself. He is such a happy, joyful kid.

I don’t want him to know those things. I don’t want him to experience the things I have, or know them as I have known them.

But.

Music is the sound that binds us all. Vibration. Energy transference.

I hope that even in his own darkest hours of his own soul, he will have this memory of bouncing all around in the back row of a movie theatre with his mom. He will remember listening to music, singing along, all the joy and power that came with it.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started