Monday, May 18, 2009

big day here at chez francis...

My youngest son starts 6th grade in the fall and today, I get to register him for his classes. He has instructed that I interview every teacher and pick only the nice ones because, and I quote, "I don't do very well with mean teachers."

Um yeah, I'll get right on that.

What I remember about 6th grade:

  1. I had a pair of bright green "painter's pants" overalls that I wore all the time.
  2. The big thing back then was to carry a large comb in your back pocket that often had a message on it. Mine said "No Tailgaiting." (BTW: I had no idea what that meant at the time.)
  3. My smart mouth fully developed that year. It was the first year I smarted off to a teacher. I had to write a report on why I shouldn't get a paddling. (yes, I went to public school. yes we had corporal punishment. no I did NOT want to bend over and grab my ankles) I wrote the report. I did NOT get paddled.
  4. I also wrote several other reports that year for my smart mouth for a different teacher. Because I knew Coach Ralph did not read the papers, I added commentary into the reports such as, "Teacher's Name is an ass" and "Teacher's Name is a pig." He either never read the reports or read them and let it pass because I had big balls because I never got into trouble.
  5. The cool teacher that year was my homeroom teacher so that made me cool be default, even though I had ugly glasses and was a good 5 inches taller than everyone else. (BTW, I'm exactly the same height now that I was in 6th grade.)
  6. I played kickball every day. And I ruled.
  7. I rode a motorbike (not really big enough to be called a motorcycle) for the first time. It was awesome, until I wrecked it and burned all the flesh off the inside of my calf. This meant I had to wear a skirt everyday to school for at least a week with a tube sock covering the burn. I didn't wear skirts. You can't rule at kickball in a skirt! I was flipping mortified.
  8. People started calling me French Fry that year. Thankfully, that nickname was quickly replaced with Mel.
I look at my youngest son and wonder if he'll have similar memories. Do you? I think 6th grade was the biggest year for change. I wouldn't go back but I can tell you, I love the kids at this age. I love watching them develop their personalities, push limits, go through the awkwards, and come out on the other side full of personality.

8 comments:

  1. Sixth grade seems like a lifetime ago. The only thing I remember from that year was that I was in the science club. We met once a week at 7am. That was probably the beginning of my geek status, now that I think about it.

    Oh, and I remember the big comb/back pocket thing. We all thought we were so cool.

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  2. I don't think I can remember one grade from another until about 8th or 9th grade. Probably cause I blocked them all out.

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  3. The comb...at our school we kept them in the side leg pocket of our painter pants.

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  4. Wow, you remember a lot more detail about 6th grade than I do. Mostly I recall that I was intensely mean to my family and best friends that entire year. It's amazing anyone I knew then still speaks to me.

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  5. I don't remember that much detail about 6th grade. LOL. You are good!

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  6. I remember I won MVP for basketball, lol

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  7. I love that age, simply because they are right at the precipice of opportunity. Everything in grade school is about making a good batter... now we start cooking.

    There was this GREAT book called LEARNING HOW TO KISS A FROG I read some time ago. It was a wonderful guide to what is going on inside a middle school student. A lot. LOL

    Best of luck to your kiddo, Mel! He has a stellar mum. He's bound to be amazing.

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  8. Ugh, I don't even want to think back to 6th grade. I'm pretty sure I had knobby knees and huge bangs. I was so awkward it pains me to remember.

    Not that I've changed THAT much :)

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