Hold on! Let\u2019s just hold on one minute!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I need to get this straight. I need to consult the calendar. I\u2019m not sure it has totally sunk down into the recesses of my spongy brain, where actual working cells still live and breathe. I don\u2019t think \u2013 as many times as my wife has told me \u2026 and she has told me a lot! \u2013 this fact has completely registered with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, hold on \u2026 let\u2019s work this out: We\u2019re somewhere in the middle of May \u2026 haven\u2019t fully figured out when, but somewhere. May is, if memory serves, traditionally the end of the school year. My daughter\u2019s middle school has said this last week was it for new assignments in their online-learning environment. And this next week, which is when exams would have been if not canceled, is kind of the last week. At least, I think \u2026 scratching my chin \u2026 if I heard all this correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyway, forget the details and complex calendar-ing. My point is this: The end of my daughter\u2019s eighth grade year is upon us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which really means: The end of her middle school CAREER is just days away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which really means: GASP! GULP! RETCH! \u2026 the start of her HIGH SCHOOL CAREER is \u2026 actually I don\u2019t know \u2026 I better check with my wife \u2026 BASICALLY JUST DAYS AWAY!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which really means: IT\u2019S OFFICIALLY TIME TO START FREAKIN\u2019 OUT!!! Because \u2026 WHERE DID THIS COME FROM!?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In all the hootenanny and hullabaloo we\u2019ve been dealing with, I straight up forgot my child \u2013 the wee little one (don\u2019t tell her I called her that) \u2013 is no longer going to be a middle schooler. I never really understood that term, by the way. \u201cElementary,\u201d I get. \u201cHigh\u201d school kind of makes sense. But \u201cmiddle\u201d just sounds like someone said, \u201cSo, what should we do with them during these three years that the government won\u2019t let us work them in the salt mines? I got it! Let\u2019s stick them in \u201cmiddle\u201d school so they don\u2019t set fires or tip the goats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Focus, Brian. Focus on what\u2019s important. Like \u2026 IT\u2019S OFFICIALLY TIME TO START FREAKIN\u2019 OUT!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My daughter will soon be a freshman in high school. (Typing this literally caused me to lose all feeling in my fingers, and I drooled down the side of my face.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It seems impossible, like solving the most complex of algebraic equations (I mean, whoever understood a\u00b2 + b\u00b2 was c\u00b2? Clearly the answer was 7.) Impossible that we could be here already. Impossible that we could be making this major transition when it seemed like we were just entering kindergarten yesterday. Impossible because something about high school doesn\u2019t really seem like school. No, it seems like something different, something bigger, something more transformative. Like loading an astronaut into a rocket that will carry them at enormous speed far, far away. A journey that they don\u2019t return from \u2026 by choice! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyone tells you to worry about high school because your kid will turn into a demon and crash your car and figure out that your contactless credit cards easily buy booze or the most expensive candy at the movie theater. But all I seem to worry about is how quickly everything is moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
T-minus 10 minutes and counting \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That so much of this feels like the final stage. The part of parenthood that you knew was on the horizon, but never spent any time thinking about it because it was too far away. Kind of like debt or retirement. Don\u2019t spend any real time worrying about it because you\u2019re sure some computer genius will come along and solve it all with an app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this is REAL now, man! There\u2019s no escaping it. There\u2019s no avoiding it. And there\u2019s sure no slowing it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess that\u2019s the sad reality and the hardest part to accept as this year comes to a close. Luckily, the last few months have taught me you can\u2019t take anything for granted anymore. You can\u2019t skip a moment or put things off. And you sure as better appreciate each and every second you have, no matter what the circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because we\u2019re in the pre-launch now, baby, and the wee little one (don\u2019t tell her I called her that) is getting a whole lot closer to firing up those rocket engines. (Unless she does as poorly in algebra as I did. Then maybe she has one more year \u2026)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hold on! Let\u2019s just hold on one minute!<\/p>\n
Because I need to get this straight. I need to consult the calendar. I\u2019m not sure it has totally sunk down into the recesses of my spongy brain, where actual working cells still live and breathe. I don\u2019t think \u2013 as many times as my wife has told me \u2026 and she has told me a lot! \u2013 this fact has completely registered with me. <\/p>\n
So, hold on \u2026 let\u2019s work this out: We\u2019re somewhere in the middle of May \u2026 haven\u2019t fully figured out when, but somewhere. May is, if memory serves, traditionally the end of the school year. My daughter\u2019s middle school has said this last week was it for new assignments in their online-learning environment. And this next week, which is when exams would have been if not canceled, is kind of the last week. At least, I think \u2026 scratching my chin \u2026 if I heard all this correctly. <\/p>\n
Anyway, forget the details and complex calendar-ing. My point is this: The end of my daughter\u2019s eighth grade year is upon us.<\/p>\n
Which really means: The end of her middle school CAREER is just days away. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[576,577,561,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2020-nutshells","category-coronavirus","category-family","category-parenthoodandchildren"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2082"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2083,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2082\/revisions\/2083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutshellcity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}