7th grade comes to a grinding halt on Friday...Thanks be to God. Go in peace.

I hated 7th grade the first time I went through it. I hate it even more as my 13 year old daughter went through it. Forget the social issues that go along with this age (I wish I could...trust me) the academics are so radically different from 6th grade. I truly had no idea. She ended up on a team with two teachers who obviously misread the name of the school, thinking it was a university and taught as such. She did however learn life's lessons. Frankly, that to me is more important than the Middle Ages, what she was supposed to be learning a bout. She learned that she has to work harder than she ever thought she would. She learned that you can't always rely on mom and dad to write a note. Consequences for your actions are a fact of life.

I marvel at how she has risen above (in most cases) and stayed the course. By mid year, a teacher gave her such a hard time, we considered allowing her to switch classes. She came home one day, announced that she had confronted the teacher about how she was being treated and told him she was staying--end of discussion. She is now looking at that situation in the rear view
mirror and has every reason to be extraordinarily proud of herself. I sure am.

And so summer begins. While I am excited for the change of pace, and the excitment of a new summer day camp season, I look back, somewhat nostalgically, for the school year that has just past. How can I be both nostalgic and relieved?

To everything......turn....turn turn...there is a season...