5th grade..the end of an era

June 28, 2009
As my "baby" inches ever closer to her 12th birthday, I want to do what I suspect every mom wants to do......and that is to discover some super human method for making time stand still. Or, at the very least, making it slow down, at least a little bit.

Melissa graduated 5th grade last week. Only 10 weeks now separate her from the scary, unknown, horrible prospect we in the adult world call middle school.

When Melissa watched her good ole mom get emotional at the end of 5th grade activities, she (no surprise here) thought my reaction seemed to be downright silly. If my eyes dared swell with tears during her 5th grade chorus concert, well, I would have broken the terms of the unwritten mother/daughter contract which states that I will not do anything to embarrass my child.
clause 1 - no public displays of affection toward offspring, this includes but is not limited to:
a - kissing
b - hugging
c - holding hands
d - touching a shoulder
e - generally walking within a 10 foot radius of said offspring
clause 2 - there shall be no public displays of emotion, this includes but is not limited to:
a - singing
b - laughing
c - dancing (said offspring will pretend to be an orphan should this particular rule-breaking occur)
d - crying

So, as the school year came to a close, I violated every clause in the contract. On her last day of school, I sat at my desk at work, thinking about her every few minutes, wondering if she would be emotional, if there would be long hugs from her friends, sad goodbyes, tears swelling at thoughts of leaving, laughter, parties, elation, dread....all of the above...none of the above.

I longed for answers to these questions when I dialed my home phone, anxious to hear all about the end of an era in her young life. With an air of distraction that did not go unnoticed, she dutifully answered my questions. "Yes, mom, it was fun". "Yes, mom, I saw all my friends" "Yes mom, I got my report card" "Yes, mom" "Yes mom" "Yes mom"

Then, after my 5th question (or 6th, or 7th, or 20th, I don't remember) came the crushing words from her mouth, "Mom, you're boring me. I'm trying to watch a movie."

There you have it. My little girl, the child who, as a baby, cried every time I left her field of vision, now finds me boring and not worthy of a phone conversation. So now I really don't care if time stands still or goes a bit slower, now I wish it would go in reverse.

But no matter, with each passing day comes a new adventure in my wonderful daughter's life. And even though I won't matter as much in the coming weeks (months, years...SOB!) it will still be a joy for me to watch her become a sweet, delightful young lady....even though she won't want me around.