Thursday, August 30, 2018

Joy Meets Middle School

My biggest little girl is growing up.


This morning we accompanied Joy to the new student orientation at her middle school.


I think she's a little nervous.  Does she look nervous to you?


While Joy went into the gym with the rest of the new sixth graders, the other little Hendricksons and I went to the parent orientation in the cafeteria.  The room was packed, so Anna and Todd spent most of the next half hour on my lap.  The principal and other staff members told us a little about the school's curriculum, and informed us that rapid, dramatic mood swings are perfectly normal in middle schoolers.  Frankly, I needed that last bit of reassurance more than I needed to know what electives Joy will be taking.


After the orientation, we joined Joy (and about a hundred other people) in her homeroom class, where she was handing out her spare highlighters to classmates who didn't have one.


Joy then demonstrated that she could successfully open her locker.  By the way, you may notice that Joy has acquired a purse, which she takes practically everywhere now.  When I offered to buy her a new backpack for middle school, she said she'd rather keep the old one and get a purse to hold her pencils, calculator, chapstick, etc.  It's both sweet and disconcerting to see my little girl acting more and more like a young woman.


One thing hasn't changed though: Her favorite part of the school tour was the library, with its shelves and shelves of big books that might actually take her a whole afternoon to finish.

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