<p>Too funny. The stories I could tell from my days in intelligence…But I’m on my second glass of wine tonight, taking a little break from the diet, so better not.</p>
<p>Exactly, missypie!</p>
<p>What a day! D2 has her surgery tomorrow morning and D2 came home from her dr’s appt today and told us she needs wrist surgery.H called to say he is on way home from work and he sounds terrible. Says he feels worse than he sounds. Ugh…guess I need that wine, too!</p>
<p>I am confused NMN… is D2 getting her wisdom teeth out tomorrow or is this somehting else. And since when was the wrist even an issue? Seems your D2 has a lot on her plate - and you will get the medical bills. :)</p>
<p>My brother speaks fluent Russian and was in the Navy intelligence for 5 years or something like that. He never talks about what he did but he did end up going to grad school and now has a kick butt job and fills a passport regularly. He and his wife spent two weeks on the beaches of Turkey this fall. While I have always been jealous of the amount he travels, with airline travel being what it is these days, international travel would not be on my list right now. I am just not that patient.</p>
<p>Oh I am so blind! The wrist problem is for D1. Has a growth, probably ganglion cyst, that has grown and is painful and needs to be removed. D2 is having gum grafts tomorrow…they harvest tissue from the roof of her mouth and graft to tissue along gum line. Supposed to be a little painful. Wisdom teeth don’t come out until this summer as this took precedence. H is NEVER sick. He has had his flu shot so hope this is just some 24 hr bug. I am always surprised he doesn’t pick up more viruses from the hospital. I will definitely have a glass of wine with my dinner tonight! ;)</p>
<p>S had the gum grafts surgery as a young’un. Not a fun day at our house… Good luck!
I am calling in sick tomorrow for the very first time since I’ve been back to work - many, many years. I feel awful!!</p>
<p>Sorry about all the illness…and the gum grafts. I wasn’t aware that there was any extra tissue on the roof of ones’ mouth!</p>
<p>They slice off the tissue that is there! It grows back I guess. I hear it is difficult to keep your tongue off of it…you know how hard it is when you have a burn or cut on the roof of your mouth! :eek:</p>
<p>She will be very crabby! I am hoping the Lorazepam will keep her mellow!</p>
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<p>I think “negative attitude” is in someways a natural response to middle school. The problem arises when you share it with the wrong adults…Does anyone ever love middle school? I feel like it is primarily an experience of learning about survival in group and interpersonal situations and some academics are added as a useful distraction…Hang in there. I think sometimes the most we can do as parents is coach them on how to best manage the difficulties–and help them identify specific skills for survival. I do think that in retrospect I was not sympathetic enough about how hard the middle school scene can be, especially for kids who have not yet developed much impulse control or whose hormonal vulnerability makes them so sensitive that the social scrum is agony. I found reading Zits a key element to surviving the whole middle/high school experience.</p>
<p>mmaah-I agree, middle school is awful overall. Part of S’s problem is that he cannot keep his mouth shut. Any opinion he has, he just lets it fly. He also has issues with self control and along with the hormones, argh…</p>
<p>quick! give the Analyst another glass of wine!</p>
<p>I agree!!! Drink up and spill!</p>
<p>Ah-h-h … middle school. A whole other set of memories, along with the elementary school costuming and gymnastics hair. Not looking back on all that, either. Even when D was in HS she said MS was the worst. Actually she was only there in 6th & 7th grade, but it was more than enough. Particularly bad for girls, IMO. My SIL went back to school to get her teaching degree and is now in her 3rd year of teaching math/science in 7th & 8th grade. She loves it, but says you have to have the “right” mindset to teach that age. I know for sure that I don’t.</p>
<p>You could not pay me enough to work in a middle school.</p>
<p>In my case D had an easier time with MS than S is having. Partly due to a more easygoing personality, better social skills and having the good fortune to have had a close group of friends who stick together (and still do). S is more high strung and like I mentioned has no ability to keep his mouth shut. I hope HS will be better for him.</p>
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<p>We’ve had kids at the middle school for 8 years and we’ve seen a change in some of the teachers…some are on their last nerve. They get a great pension if they can last 30 years, so some of the folks around my age are in either the pass out worksheets stage, or the blow up at every little thing stage. I sure wouldn’t want to spend all day with those kids. (D’s class is particularly snotty.)</p>
<p>Our meeting at Son’s school is up in the air. We awoke to ice, so there’s no way we can get down there by 11 am. I’ve asked if the meeting can be later in the day. If not, I guess we can have a conference call, which is certainly not ideal.</p>
<p>Gosh, I work in a middle school and I LOVE my students! I’m not a teacher so perhaps I see them in a different light. It’s an age of so much change, self-discovery, confusion, awkwardness - lord, they just break my heart!</p>
<p>The middle school choir director feels the same way - loves it and wouldn’t want to teach at any other level. Your rewards will be in heaven.</p>
<p>Oh Woody, I am always so thankful for the ones like you who see the good side of the kids and realize what they are going through. S seems to pick these people out and seems to behave better around them.</p>
<p>best wishes on surgeries and quick recoveries.</p>
<p>Middle School is indeed a unique time in human development and I really do believe you need a certain mind set to do it well. I think we got particularly lucky with many of our kids’ teachers, but I can see how it pushes one’s limits. Hats off to those who embrace the opportunity. </p>
<p>Missy - sorry about the possible meeting detour. Always better to see the “whites of their eyes” as they say to assure yourself of sincerity AND attention.</p>
<p>We’ve rescheduled the meeting to 3:30 pm. Less than ideal but it beats sitting on some icy overpass behind a jacknifed 18 wheeler. </p>
<p>I must say that my cozy little house seems so huge and empty with all of Christmas put away!</p>