Middle School Matters

Its hard to believe how quickly the month of January flew by. Abbie's days at school are intense. There is a lot of work, which she is doing great with, but there are also all of the other (probably) more important matters - those of learning how to navigate teachers and students with different personalities.

All told, Abbie has about eight different teachers, all with different expectations, etc. Some of them, she really enjoys; others, not so much. The same goes for the students - there are always kids that annoy her. It is mostly the boys, but sometimes it is the girls, too. She is constantly striking that balance between speaking up, but not saying too much, standing up for herself, but not being mean to others, being friendly, but not too friendly. You get the idea - middle school is tough and she often comes home worn out by the end of the day. :)

Aside from all of the interpersonal stuff, her French class has been preparing a Mardi Gras play that they will be performing next week. It is patterned off of the Wizard of Oz (who knows why), and Abbie has the role of the wicked witch. Her teacher has been pretty insistent that she use the shrill, cackling voice that you may recall from the original. Grudgingly, Abbie has acquiesced, but I think that she feels like this play is going to be embarrassing to perform in front of the other students.

Also next week, the 6th grade will be traveling to the state capital for two nights. The itinerary looks pretty packed. I think the idea is that if they tire the kids out during the day, there will be less drama at night! Hopefully she will have fun, but either way I am sure that she will come home exhausted.

Other than that, there is not much to report from the month of January. Abbie spent a few days curled up on the couch with a stomach bug, but when she was feeling well, it was the regular schedule of school, violin, and dog jobs. Lest you think that she never has any fun, she has been really interested in bird-related activities this month. She and Emily built a birdbath outside that the birds actually used! Also, she has been taking the binoculars out so see how many different types of birds she can find. I love the photo below, which she actually took by holding my phone up to the lens of the binocular. Cool!