Middle school. Angst, apprehension, attitude, allowance, adoration. How many adjectives beginning with the letter’A’ adequately capture the essence of this period of life? Just put the word AWKWARD in front of the short list above, and guess what, the list is pretty much complete. AWKWARD. Thinking of middle school, this is the first word that comes to my mind. But how many other times in life has it been awkward? That time when you gave yourself bangs, the realization that yes you do have on two different shoes in public, and yes those are body fluids on your scrubs that you didn’t have time to change as you’d planned before meeting the ‘possible Mr./Mrs. Right after a 10-11 hour workday. AWKWARD happens to all of us. I mean, if I could write down all of my ‘THINGS’ we would be here all day. Just remember, you are not in middle school anymore, and as awkward as it gets, the middle school awkward of pimples that just popped up overnight, the sudden awareness that your body is acting really weird, the surprising outburst of tears, the love/hate relationship you now have with your parents and, well, every single person of the opposite sex, you will NEVER have to repeat middle school. Except now… if you’re me. HA! I can only think of one friend MORE awkward than me and BTW she has the coolest blog. Anyway back on track. If, and that’s a big IF, i don’t always continue with my quirky awkwardness, I get to relive parts of it with a child who somehow inherited every single awkward and self irritating trait I have ever had, the child I love with my whole heart, & whom my heart hurts for. AND the child who I LAUGH out loud at with the most intense obnoxious laugh possible just in case his friends CAN hear or see me, even though we are usually MILES away from them. I also thrust that dreaded HUG on the awkard almost 13 year old and whisper ‘I love you’ at least once a day. One day, he will always remember AWKWARD Middle School, and the AWKWARD Mom he had to put up with through this chapter of torment of well…. AWKWARD EVERYTHING…. but most of all his awkwardly affectionate ancestral parents!
In the Thick of It 