8th Grade Reality Check

Last night I had the extreme pleasure of discussing with my nephew the first few days of his experience as a sixth grader. Once he got going on the details of his new life in middle school, I only wanted to know more. Here are the highlights:

Cafeteria Food – Five Stars!

On his first day, he ate a chef’s salad that (and I quote), “tasted five star to me!” When I asked him what his criteria was for a five star chef’s salad, he explained that it is the crispness of the lettuce and number of croutons; in this case, “crispy” and “plenty”. On the side, he chose tater tots. His glowing description of the golden brown nuggets that were “not undercooked like they do in elementary school” set my mouth to watering. This kid is getting treated well! No industrialized cafeteria food for him!

Eighth Graders and the Bus

You guessed it. Things have not changed. My nephew and his two friends had the audacity to sit in the (gasp!) back of the bus. That is, until the eighth grade bus seating coalition showed up and threatened to pound them. His take on this situation brought back fond memories of riding to school in complete fear, lest you take the wrong seat. He even had an eighth grader tell him the story of his own sixth grade bus experience, wherein he refused to leave the back of the bus and arrived home with bruises peppered all over his body. At this time, with only two days of middle school under his belt, my nephew and his friends now wisely choose to sit squarely in the center of the bus.

Lockers

“In elementary school, we had a full length locker that we had to share. Now we have half lockers that are all our own.” I asked him how he was going to decorate it. He asked me “what do you mean?” Okay, is decorating your locker strictly a girl thing? I remember in high school my friends that happened to be male would put a Black Sabbath sticker here, a picture of some hot girl there… I wonder what sixth grade boys choose when it comes to locker décor? I suppose I will have to pull that out of him at one point or another; once he discovers the power of personal style.

Switching Classes

I remember how scared I was when homeroom suddenly became a thing of my past. My nephew, on the other hand, seems to revel in the fact that it is upon him to find the correct place to go and get there on time. I’ve never heard such enthusiasm from him regarding school. I mean, I was pretty sure this kid was suffering from a case of terminal ennui, but it turns out that when met with a challenge of this scope he is happy to step up to the plate and prove that he is capable.

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All in all, he seems to have adjusted rather well during the first week. He did advise me that gym was not just gym anymore, but that they were required to learn about “hygiene and stuff”. I wonder if he gym teacher is aware of the fact that my nephew is already picky about his hair products. And by that I mean that he berated his mom for not buying Aussie shampoo anymore because “it smells the best.” I think he is ahead of the curve on this particular subject.

Additionally, I was informed about the girl situation.

But I’ll keep that to myself.