Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

First day of 5th Grade

School is in session! School started for students on August 15th, yet I’ve been back since July 30th. Although I love the start of a fresh school year, along with that comes so much. The transition from a carefree summer to the hustle and bustle of school is a tough one. I’m reminded daily of the many decisions that educators make. Statistics say that teachers make 1,500 decisions every day! Along with many decisions comes the stress of a never-ending “to-do” list and the unexpectedness of working with children. While I’ve vowed to continue writing, this is why I've kept my pencil down over the past month.

During one of the last weeks of summer, we visited Bahama Bucks. (If you haven’t been there yet, stop reading this post and go now! LOL! Seriously, though! Their shaved ice is the BEST!) Izz walked up and placed her order for a blue coconut with cream sno-cone quickly while Greg and I hung back and viewed the menu. Finally, Greg ordered a large mango-chamoy.

“What?” I whispered to him. “What is chamoy?”

He said there was a picture of it on the menu, and it looked really good… like cherry. Well, let me tell you... it did not taste like cherry! I couldn’t figure out why he would pick a flavor like chamoy when he had never even heard of it! Izzy and I still tease him about chamoy! (BTW, chamoy is a salty Mexican condiment… so weird on a sno-cone!)

Historically, Greg orders like this. Whether it’s the waiter coming to the table or Greg pulling up to the drive-thru window, he freaks out. Often, he orders something he doesn’t really want. He has some real anxiety when it comes to ordering food! While we laugh about it as he’s enjoying the mango-chamoy sno-cone, we recognize that decision-making is hard… especially when you’re feeling the pressure to make that decision.

All summer long, I thought of Izzy and her transition to 5th grade. Would it go smoothly? Has she

Izz loves morning safety patrol!

matured? Will she be successful? Izzy’s fifth grade school year is off to a great start. She has a fabulous group of teachers supporting her, and she is LOVING working as safety patrol each morning.

My thoughts have quickly shifted to junior high. How will that work? Where will she go? Will she go to the junior high we're zoned to, Seven Lakes, or will she go to McMeans with her Exley friends? Will she continue in the same kind of program that's currently serving her? How will she survive without me? How will I survive without her? I know that junior high is still a year away, but I am totally freaked out by it. Junior high is such an awkward time in a typical child’s life; I can only imagine how tough it is for a child who is struggling with communication, social skills, and hyperactivity. While Izzy is a typical ten-year-old in so many ways, she struggles with immaturity in so many areas. Don’t get me wrong; we are so, so lucky that she has the sweetest friends who love and accept her for who she is. I just worry about junior high.

I remember those days. You weren’t cool unless you were down with all of the latest fads and could hang with the popular crowd. The innocence of elementary school goes right down the drain on the first day of sixth grade. I remember it all too well. First day of sixth grade, August 1993, I was asked if I was waiting for the flood. Apparently, I grew between the time we went back to school shopping and the first day of school, and my new jeans were shorter than acceptable for the coolest girl in school. Ugh. I know it all too well. Junior high is almost like a rite of passage. We all needed that time to learn strategies for dealing with bullies and cool kids and how to juggle homework from seven classes.

I think the real struggle for me is that I can't see the future. Crazy, right?! Junior high is going to look so different for Izzy than it looked for me. The thing is that I thrive on predictability, and it makes me super nervous when I don't know what will happen. I'm the person who orders a clear strawberry sno-cone every time because...

1. Strawberry is my favorite fruit.

2. Since it's clear, my teeth won't turn red.

3. I know it will be delicious.

Greg says that makes me really boring... and, really, I know that I need to be more like Greg. He might freak out and order something weird, but, through that, he finds new things that he loves. Life is not predictable. I won't know how Izzy will transition in junior high until it happens. And, who knows, it could be a really great experience for her. Sometimes, we need to try the chamoy! LOL!

Life is full of decisions. Some of those decisions are as frivolous as ordering a sno-cone while other decisions impact the future or another person. So maybe I’ll just go teach sixth grade for the next three years, so I can be with Izz… yeah, whatever! #helicoptermom #mangochamoy