Another School Year ……

Like other families across the country, we are gearing up for another school year, and  not your average, ordinary school year.  To paraphrase Ron Burgundy in Anchorman – love that movie – this one’s kind of a big deal.

This year, we’re entering a new frontier.  This has nothing to do with the Corona virus, although I’m sure that will make life interesting too.  This is about entering a new school frontier…..MIDDLE SCHOOL – insert gasp here.

Ah, middle school.  That magical time when you’re not quite a little kid anymore, but not quite an adult either.  That glorious in-between time.  It’s a time of great change for kids.  Much more is expected of you and great changes are happening to you.  I remember it feeling like being pushed into the deep end of the swimming pool and having to figure out how to swim.  There’s switching classrooms, more than one teacher, remembering locker combinations, lugging books around, etc, etc.  It makes my palms sweat just thinking about it.

The start of this year, of this new chapter in Owen’s life, has me filled with apprehension.  In Owen’s world, nothing much changes from year to year.  While his body may grow and change, mentally, he’s still a little boy who likes playing with toys meant for infants and toddlers and cuddling with mom and dad.  Chronologically, he’s a 6th grader but mentally, not so much.  How is he going to fit into this new school environment?

I worry about how he will be viewed and treated by his classmates.  This worried me  last year too when he started a new school, going from a self-contained classroom where all the kids had special needs, to being immersed in a classroom of typically developing kids.  I was pleasantly surprised last year when the kids embraced him and grew to appreciate the kid who was so different from them.  But now, he’s entering a bigger arena with kids who won’t know him from last year.  How will they treat him?  How will his friends from last year treat him?  Will it be the same?  After all, the stakes are higher for them now.  There will be more pressure.  More will be expected of them.  They too are transitioning to a bigger school and will likely have fear and anxiety of their own, not to mention there’s this whole Corona virus thing adding an extra layer of complexity to the mix.

So, what’s the best we can hope for this year?  Nobody knows and only time will tell.  Luckily for me, I just have to deal with my own fear and anxiety.  Owen is not phased by new people and new places, thank goodness.  I know others with special kiddos are not as lucky as I am.

And so begins the 2020-2021 school year.  Here’s to Owen and his classmates, the newly minted middle schoolers.  May they thrive and prosper in their new environment.  May they make it through the entire school year without interruption.  And above all, may they remember to be kind to one another, especially to those who are different from them.