I'm a Survivor (Apologies to Destiny's Child)

Yesterday, suffering from extreme writer's blah, I scrolled back through my early years of participating in the TWT Slice of Life Challenge.  I was struck by how many entries were about my son as a seventh grader: struggling with getting him to complete homework, noting his complete transformation from happy, even mischievous elementary school student to withdrawn, hair over his eyes, sulky pre-teen, and my lack of ability to see much beyond this stage for my first child, despite years of experience teaching middle school and actual students who were proof to me that most survive middle school and successfully move forward in life.

These memories were especially striking as Patrick came home from college for the weekend and he hung out with the family for an extended period of time (between visits with friends and his girlfriend.) Typically when he's been home we haven't see him before noon - and he's spent most of his free time holed up in his room on the computer playing some game. Over this weekend, however, I saw spontaneous smiles from him, and much, much more of him - at family movie night, the St. Pat's Parade, breakfast with the family!  At the end of the weekend I drove him back to school, happy to have some one on one time, during which he bemoaned the current political situation, expressed engagement in and enjoyment for his classes, especially social anthropology, and reminisced about how challenging middle and high school had been for him socially. I spent my drive back reflecting on how confident he was, how mature he seemed, and how lucky I was to be able to see the beginnings of his transformation.  

Today, in meeting with a parent regarding her challenging seventh grade son, I listened carefully to her worries and concerns, acknowledged her fears, and assured her that the frontal lobe does finally develop fully and she too will look back on middle school with the attitude of a survivor. More importantly, perhaps, He's a Survivor!