I dropped my youngest child off at Hunter Junior High School this morning at 7:25 a.m. -- his first day as a 7th grader. I felt a deep emptiness -- "he's growing up way too fast" rolled over and over in my mind. Once I saw him go inside the school, I turned the car around and headed for home to get a few work essentials when I realized I had forgotten to give "the boy" some lunch money. I flipped a "u" turn on 6000 West, faced the parent drop off traffic with confidence, parked in the parent parking lot, and trecked into the school in search of my 7th grader. The kids were much bigger than when I taught junior high school some 30 years ago. I looked around and saw some kids holding hands (heterosexual hand holding that is), others looking for a familiar face, and me -- just looking for someone who looked smart enough to point me in the direction of the TLC classroom. Once I stumbled onto the class, I found him -- sitiing straight and tall at a table in the middle of the room. Fortunately for him, the first bell had just rung and not too many students had arrived. He appeared to look more relieved than embarrased as I handed him some sweet cash/change.
The after school report indicated that his day went well. He saw a few kids with moustashes, one kid with a tatoo on his neck, and nearly all of his friends. Once home, he couldn't wait to head to the elementary school and check-in with the neighbor kids on how their day went.
