Same, or different?

I've been accused of being a teacher's pet.

WAY back when, by my loving husband.

He didn't know me in high school, but he tells the kids he knows my "type."

Good grades, popular, lots of friends, and the teacher(s) pet.

You know,  I have to tell him over and over, I had a GREAT experience all through school.

Can't help that he spent some time in the Principal's office and I didn't.

That's really his fault, for having the history that he did.

Grace, until this year, wasn't enjoying school much.

The pressures of junior high with three schools merging, was creating some tension between friends, athletes, etc.  Her classes are HARD, and she's doing well, but the stress was getting to her.

It made me sad.  I wanted her to have a great school experience like I did.

Fast forward to the last 9 weeks of her 8th grade year.  She's got some FANTASTIC new friends who I adore, she's doing well in her classes, and she's seeing the light at the end of the junior high tunnel.  She's LOVING school again and I'm SO happy.

So it got me thinking...how much of our junior high experiences are the same or different.

1.  Me:  I once liked a boy (who became my boyfriend) because he wore the neatest track suits.  He had A LOT, in A LOT of colors!  Remember, this was 1987-88.  I was clueless.
     Grace:  She likes boys for their looks (what junior high girl doesn't), and how well they act together, how comfortable they are with each other.

2.  Me:  I was one of the youngest in my class, and I never turned the same age as the kids in my class till school was out for the summer.
     Grace:  She has a birthday in January, right smack dab in the middle of the year.

3.  Me:  I played volleyball in junior high when NO ONE was cut from the team.
     Grace:  Cheered for basketball season in 7th grade, and football and basketball season in 8th grade, and watched many of her friends get cut from sports.  :(

4.  Me:  Used a payphone at school when I needed to get a hold of my mom.  You could usually find a payphone anywhere...even the mall.
     Grace:  Uses her own i phone to get a hold of me if she needs to.  Also uses it to text thousands of messages to her friends every month.

5. Me:  Got good grades, enjoyed all or most of my classes, and was on the honor roll.
    Grace:  Gets good grades, takes honors classes, enjoys some of her classes, and is on the honor roll.

6.  Me:  Passed notes to my friends in study hall.  
     Grace:  Passes notes to her friends during the passing time between classes.  Cracks me up that they still pass notes!

7.  Me:  Went to awkward junior high dances where no one really danced with the opposite sex, and you just stayed in your group of friends and talked while holding up the wall!
     Grace:  Goes to a couple junior high dances throughout the year and has a great time hanging with her friends and making a big deal out of dancing crazy and just having a good time all the while filming it on her phone.

8.  Me:  rode a bus for 45 min or more each way, morning and night because I lived on the county line for my school district.
     Grace:  rides a bus for at least 45 min each way, morning and night because we live 1/2 mile from the county line for our school district.

9.  Me:  Packed my lunch when I didn't like what they were serving, and it was no big deal.
         Grace:  Has avoided packing her lunch for a year and a half because it's a social no no.

10.  Me:  Was awkward looking, had a mushroom-like hair-do on the top of my head, braces, and wore too much peach colored clothing because that was popular.
              Grace:  Is BEAUTIFUL.  Has hair that I would kill to have (color, texture, you name it), makes all clothing look cool, and has great athletic talent.

Looks like we have a lot more in common about junior high than I thought.  I attended the very same school Grace and Evan are now, so some of her teachers, were mine as well.  Crazy to think about, but I'm also crazy happy that she's attending my school. 

All I can tell Grace is this, you may be uncertain sometimes, heck, sometimes as an adult, I still am, you may think you've failed or even succeeded, but honey, you are ROCKING junior high.  You are a good girl with great morals and you're a solid, faithful friend.  Anyone is lucky to have you as theirs.  Only 8 more weeks till the end of school, then you'll be a freshman, and you'll have all new experiences to keep in your back pocket for the time you're my age, and you're watching your own children go through it.