By Diane Blum
Pre-teen angst and an “I need my space” attitude…are these the themes of seventh-grade?
How did you teach all of those hormones this year? Facing those would make me very afraid!
We parents of 7th graders this year could barely get our child to acknowledge our thoughts!
Yet you 7th grade teachers got them using their brain, not acting like inflexible robots!
We push and we nag, we try to make our kids understand that it matters…today…
How hard they work; the need to be respectful; that they should care about what they say.
But they question our authority, or our intelligence, or our “at that moment” motive,
Then they put on their headset, crank up some noise, and then they say they “just don’t give.”
Where did my sweet little boy go, the one that liked to cuddle and listen to me read?
Did a monster get downloaded off the Internet and on my son…did it feed?
Did the monster plant the ideas in his head that he has the meanest parents in town?
Is it the monster that makes my son wear his pants so gravity-“defyingly” low that I frown?
I think of my yesteryear, when I was my older son’s age, about thirteen…
Was I so moody; so influenced by my peers; was I so into my own private scene?
Did I “bend” every one of my parents’ rules, did I exclude – not include - my folks?
Did I use swear words just because it was against the rules, and did I tell crude humored jokes?
How could a middle school teacher teach my child? My son who won’t even listen to me?
But apparently you did teach him this year, because some learning I did see!
You must have patience, enthusiasm and a dedication that gets you somehow through it,
I must admit, I wonder about teaching “tweens”, if I could in a million years, ever do it!
Now don’t take this poem the wrong way, I love my son and he really is a super fellow!
It’s just as he gets taller (and his voice gets lower),
his attitude gets much more challenging than its mellow!
So this little ditty is meant to thank you for your efforts, through this year,
You took on a most difficult age, without showing signs of running or of fear!
This year’s crop of 7th graders will move on, but know you had an impact.
You got them through a major transition in their lives, and in fact…
They have survived, have grown and have learned about both academics and
about a part of life that is all too true,
In 7th grade, as the “little ones” again…they learned that in every pond,
there is always a bigger fish than you.
copyrighted by Diane Blum
