Well, I think we all need a minute here to both stop laughing and deal with our emotions after having middle school traumas come flooding back. My family moved to another state the summer before I started middle school, so I knew no one. Then I broke both my arms that year (not at the same time) so I was the chubby, highly breakable new kid. Amazing that I can't remember who I talked to yesterday but I can conjure up those feelings in a split second.
When will you be getting another perm?
Butterfinger does have severe infrastructure problems. There should be a warning on the label.
Well guess who just choked on her coffee reading this comment, ON CAMERA in front of 18 co-workers? So YES, I AM mad at you! Mad at you for making me laugh so hard! (Okay, I'm over it. Let's be best friends again.) Also perms are making a comeback-- with TWEEN BOYS!
How can I possibly forget I was drinking grain alcohol? As if my coworkers would believe that?!It would’ve been more believable to say “Ewwww, somebody put coffee in my morning ethanol!”
How can I forget that I'm blacking out if I'm blacked out??? No, I'm not mad at you. But let's be mad at someone else. How about we be mad at Andrew Knott?
Totally! Part of me wants to know EVERYTHING but the other part is TERRIFIED to know everything! Just sitting here waiting for the other shoe to drop. (The other shoe is DEFINITELY a croc.)
I can report that shop class is still happening at my kid's school and it is very popular. I am still proud of the cutting board I made in shop class but also clearly remember some kids smoking in the back of the shop room and then sucking the cigarette up in the shop vac and starting a fire.
So, kind of a mixed bag.
On a different note, I got to read an advanced copy of Shelly's D&D parenting humor book and can report that you should immediately pre-order it for the D&D-loving parent in your life.
The Jackie Collins book report!! I LOLed. Congrats on successfully getting your kid to middle school! And it's true, no one gets out of their cars at Madison. I enjoy watching all the kids parade by while I'm waiting and marveling at (judging) their clothing choices. They let kids wear straight pajamas to school. And sports bras apparently are acceptable to wear as tops. ?!?!?!?
Also— the memories are flooding back!— I remember my class was super into my report! They kept asking questions. It was like a Melrose Place recap. Probably what kicked off my love of recapping trashy TV shows too.
Yessss the pajama pants! I’m waiting for the day my son trades in his basketball shorts in favor of flannel PJs. Maybe that’s 7th grade? And I’m the shortest person there. The girls especially tower over me!
Also, my oldest is in 7th grade (second year of middle school) and he seems to believe middle school is fine. I’m like, absolutely not. I didn’t live in fear every day of being choked out from behind by the big scary kids during the walk out to PE for you to say middle school is FINE now!
Hahahhahahhaha, you walked (to PE) so he could be blissfully unaware of this hell on earth he’s subjected to 5 days a week. When did middle school become FINE???
WOW, KERT, you are a true hero. Totally agree if you can teach there you can teach anywhere. In fact, if you can teach in middle school you can do ANYTHING. Period. Where did you end up teaching after middle school?
I became an elementary school principal where I discovered teaching kindergarten was a close second to teaching middle school—the two age groups not as far apart as their ages would suggest! LOL! But, to this day, I love the middle school ages—if they come to see you care deeply about them, and “get them,” they will follow you anywhere. My team never, ever had issues with our middle schoolers.
Huge congratulations on the book Shelly! I pre-ordered a copy, maybe I'll learn something in the event I one day have children. Love the middle school memories as well. Bringing back some uncomfortable memories of my own...
Hahaha... I'm sorry? Maybe we could have a support group. And THANK YOU for pre-ordering my book! You will be well prepared in the event of parenting children one day. Or at least you'll be able to channel Digmond the Dwarf the next time you tell a kid to get off your lawn and be that much more believable!
No, Beth, NO!!! I figured by high school, kids just shed their parents like old reptile skin. Maybe wishful thinking? Wow, what a big year for your family!
One middle school horror story: got chickenpox in Grade 6 and was, of course, out for like a week. Someone said that I didn’t really have it, but just a huge case of zits and was too embarrassed to come to school. At least it wasn’t some kind of made up skin disease?? Then the following year, my family and I moved to Bermuda where I was placed at girls only school. They didn’t like anything I liked (like 90210…I mean who didn’t like that show back then?? Oh yeah, girls in Bermuda (probably because it was on too late for them - Bermuda is on Atlantic time but got all the US channels. This meant that the show didn’t air until 10 pm on Thursdays (back when it was on at 9 ET). Bedtime.
Well, I think we all need a minute here to both stop laughing and deal with our emotions after having middle school traumas come flooding back. My family moved to another state the summer before I started middle school, so I knew no one. Then I broke both my arms that year (not at the same time) so I was the chubby, highly breakable new kid. Amazing that I can't remember who I talked to yesterday but I can conjure up those feelings in a split second.
When will you be getting another perm?
Butterfinger does have severe infrastructure problems. There should be a warning on the label.
Are you mad at me?
Well guess who just choked on her coffee reading this comment, ON CAMERA in front of 18 co-workers? So YES, I AM mad at you! Mad at you for making me laugh so hard! (Okay, I'm over it. Let's be best friends again.) Also perms are making a comeback-- with TWEEN BOYS!
Why didn't you just tell your coworkers that you forgot you were drinking a mug of grain alcohol?
Thank you for getting over your anger so quickly. I didn't enjoy those two seconds when we weren't best friends.
Seriously? What in the name of Robert Reed is that about?
How can I possibly forget I was drinking grain alcohol? As if my coworkers would believe that?!It would’ve been more believable to say “Ewwww, somebody put coffee in my morning ethanol!”
Are you mad at ME??? I feel like I did something.
By blacking out, silly!
No, I'm not mad at you at all. Are you positive you're not mad at me? I just want to make sure.
How can I forget that I'm blacking out if I'm blacked out??? No, I'm not mad at you. But let's be mad at someone else. How about we be mad at Andrew Knott?
I don’t think I know him well enough to be mad at him. But I’ll try!
Nailed it. The feelings of your kid starting middle school and your own memories whooshing in like that F6 hurricane.
Jeffrey and I joked that one day our kids would be in therapy because “My parents constantly wanted to know what I was feeling.”
Also I'm now obsessed with you doing a skit of a bunch of young adults in therapy because their parents kept asking about their feelings!
🤣🤣
Totally! Part of me wants to know EVERYTHING but the other part is TERRIFIED to know everything! Just sitting here waiting for the other shoe to drop. (The other shoe is DEFINITELY a croc.)
I can report that shop class is still happening at my kid's school and it is very popular. I am still proud of the cutting board I made in shop class but also clearly remember some kids smoking in the back of the shop room and then sucking the cigarette up in the shop vac and starting a fire.
So, kind of a mixed bag.
On a different note, I got to read an advanced copy of Shelly's D&D parenting humor book and can report that you should immediately pre-order it for the D&D-loving parent in your life.
The Jackie Collins book report!! I LOLed. Congrats on successfully getting your kid to middle school! And it's true, no one gets out of their cars at Madison. I enjoy watching all the kids parade by while I'm waiting and marveling at (judging) their clothing choices. They let kids wear straight pajamas to school. And sports bras apparently are acceptable to wear as tops. ?!?!?!?
Also— the memories are flooding back!— I remember my class was super into my report! They kept asking questions. It was like a Melrose Place recap. Probably what kicked off my love of recapping trashy TV shows too.
Melrose Place. a highlight of the '90s! The early seasons were so good. Dr. Kimberly!!!
THE SCAR!!!
that scar was legit so scary!!
Yessss the pajama pants! I’m waiting for the day my son trades in his basketball shorts in favor of flannel PJs. Maybe that’s 7th grade? And I’m the shortest person there. The girls especially tower over me!
Same, one of my kid's friends is 5'9!!! And they all have giant feet.
They are like puppies. Giant flipper feet.
Huge congrats on that badminton trophy!
Thank you! But more importantly, did I use the word "flex" correctly?
To my eye, you nailed it
Also, my oldest is in 7th grade (second year of middle school) and he seems to believe middle school is fine. I’m like, absolutely not. I didn’t live in fear every day of being choked out from behind by the big scary kids during the walk out to PE for you to say middle school is FINE now!
Hahahhahahhaha, you walked (to PE) so he could be blissfully unaware of this hell on earth he’s subjected to 5 days a week. When did middle school become FINE???
As a former middle school/jr. high teacher, I can attest to everything, EVERYTHING written here!
Oddly (?) I loved that age-group. Always said if a teacher could successfully teach in middle school, they could teach anywhere. I was proven right.
WOW, KERT, you are a true hero. Totally agree if you can teach there you can teach anywhere. In fact, if you can teach in middle school you can do ANYTHING. Period. Where did you end up teaching after middle school?
I became an elementary school principal where I discovered teaching kindergarten was a close second to teaching middle school—the two age groups not as far apart as their ages would suggest! LOL! But, to this day, I love the middle school ages—if they come to see you care deeply about them, and “get them,” they will follow you anywhere. My team never, ever had issues with our middle schoolers.
Huge congratulations on the book Shelly! I pre-ordered a copy, maybe I'll learn something in the event I one day have children. Love the middle school memories as well. Bringing back some uncomfortable memories of my own...
Hahaha... I'm sorry? Maybe we could have a support group. And THANK YOU for pre-ordering my book! You will be well prepared in the event of parenting children one day. Or at least you'll be able to channel Digmond the Dwarf the next time you tell a kid to get off your lawn and be that much more believable!
I am remiss to say this but wait till high school. It’s a shock to the system. We have a middle schooler and a high schooler this year.
No, Beth, NO!!! I figured by high school, kids just shed their parents like old reptile skin. Maybe wishful thinking? Wow, what a big year for your family!
One middle school horror story: got chickenpox in Grade 6 and was, of course, out for like a week. Someone said that I didn’t really have it, but just a huge case of zits and was too embarrassed to come to school. At least it wasn’t some kind of made up skin disease?? Then the following year, my family and I moved to Bermuda where I was placed at girls only school. They didn’t like anything I liked (like 90210…I mean who didn’t like that show back then?? Oh yeah, girls in Bermuda (probably because it was on too late for them - Bermuda is on Atlantic time but got all the US channels. This meant that the show didn’t air until 10 pm on Thursdays (back when it was on at 9 ET). Bedtime.
“A huge case of zits!” KIDS! Such a-holes! And I’m with you— who didn’t like 90210???? I’m sorry, but you were set up for failure!
Exactly. The show might be right at a 12 year old’s bedtime but VCRs existed for a reason.