Lost. Today was a day when I found myself dealing with things that I admittedly know NOTHING about! I felt like I was trying to change the motor in a car. It was the first day that Grant had to "dress out" in PE. I absolutely remember how mortifying that whole locker room situation was to me in 7th grade. Why in this world would you purposely change clothes in front of a room full of people you don't know. In fact, that's one of my nightmares! You know! That dream when you find yourself standing in public somewhere wearing nothing more than your birthday suit? I think everyone has had a similar dream and I'm sure that there's some meaning behind it. Anyway, I've "been there and done that" so I really didn't think it would be too hard to coach Grant about what to expect. I should've know that I was failing when he had a meltdown last night because I hadn't bought him new undies. It wasn't like he was wearing UnderRoos or something! He actually has a drawer full of Eric's old undies that he had "issues" with. Ok, maybe TMI. Sorry! Anyway, mom ended up making an 8:00 run to Kohls last night to buy him new boxer shorts. I just couldn't figure out the importance of the underwear. I should have realized that I was missing the big picture when I couldn't even figure out buying new drawers for the kid!
Anyway, he made it through PE today but completely blew me away with his report of what was being compared in the locker room. Seriously? I didn't know that guys REALLY compared those things! Grant wanted baggy drawers to hide his "manhood" from being sized up. Geez. And I thought it was all about style!
If that wasn't enough for one day, I just spent the last two hours helping a group of 6th grade boys create a patrol flag for scouts. At first, the scouts were kind and seemed to be courteous since there was a "lady" in the room. However, after a few minutes, that kind of behavior grew boring and they started to let it all hang out. What was I to do? The teacher in me wanted to demand that everyone sit down and get quiet. But, this isn't school. What's protocol? Grant is the patrol leader and I kept looking at him hoping he'd give me some sort of indicator as to what was going to happen next. Were the boys going to tie me up and hoist me to the top of the flag pole with the new flag or had I just become a static piece of furniture in the room? As the boys used a hot iron to fuse the fabric on to the flag, I began to realize that I'd tried to impose Martha Stewart crafts on a bunch of boys. No wonder they were miserable. There weren't any explosions. No blood. No guts. No dirt. There were scissors, fabric, and a hot iron. Geez. Once again, OUT OF MY LEAGUE! The boys did finally complete the flag (not in the style and perfection that I would have preferred) but my blood pressure sure took a hit.
As we started to leave, I asked Grant if I'd embarrassed him. He just looked at me. I didn't sing. I didn't skip. I didn't make them color Dora pictures. What exactly had I done? I need to know so I don't do it again. I don't know what's acceptable to boys. (Now, there's definitely a line where I don't care what the heck they think - such as when they started pounding each other in the face with a basketball for fun). Grant never did give me a specific answer but I'm going to demand one before I put myself into that predicament again.
As for tomorrow, I've washed the new baggy boxer shorts and they are ready to be worn. I didn't check his math homework and circle problems for him to redo. (I can pull rank in this area at any time). I didn't burst in the bathroom door to brush my teeth while he was in the shower. (I stumbled in blindly covering my eyes and proclaiming to him that I couldn't see a thing. Um, one day, he'll realize that if I couldn't see anything, I wouldn't be able to get my toothbrush)! I'm trying to accept the fact that he's growing up but I don't like it! He'll always be my baby boy.
As a side note for tonight, the bank was kind enough to reactivate my debit card and put $400 of the $800 back into my account. The remaining $400 is still "pending" investigation. Why didn't the investigation that cleared the first $400 also clear the second $400? This has been a major frustration! I'm not happy with the way they've handled things but it's not as if I can go into the bank and demand my $400. If I remember correctly, isn't that called robbing a bank?
Good night, all!
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