FlapJilly likes middle school.
Her mother and I are bemused. Neither of us liked middle school. Neither of us know anyone except TBG who liked middle school, and he liked it because he was captain of every sports team and president of every class and club and because he was taller (although skinnier) than most of his peers.
But FlapJilly goes off every morning with a smile on her face, and she returns the same way. She is not bothered by the nonsense that tortured me when I was 11. She has softball friends and elementary school friends. She's on the President's Honor Roll, with her perfect attendance and 4.0 GPA, but only knew about that honor because a friend mentioned it to her.
Her mother would have loved that announcement, would have shared it far and wide... or at least as far as her parental units. FlapJilly mentioned it only in response to her mom asking if anything surprising happened at school that day.
She even likes walking down the halls between classes. She and Gimbels, a bff since first grade, trade high fives as they pass one another. Yesterday, Gimbels switched it up a bit; she added Hey, I like your knees.
FlapJilly laughed. Little Cuter laughed. I laughed.
What I would have given for a friend like that when I was in 6th grade. Oh, what I would have given.
It's so good to hear about a happy middle schooler. My granddaughter is like that.
ReplyDeleteAren't we, and they, and their mothers lucky!
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Granddaughter and grandson attended the same middle school. But granddaughter's first year was during the pandemic shutdown so she had 6th grade from home. The next two years were very hard and the school had no student control.
ReplyDeleteBy the time our grandson arrived, a new principal was in place. He has made a world of difference and our grandson has loved middle school. Grandson got into school band, playing the saxophone, and then last year started running track and found he was very good at it. It's really about the principal who can make a big difference.
That is certainly true at Prince, my volunteer school.
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