Middle School? ???

*warning: if you are Carley or Rachel, you prolly should skip this entry. trust me.

So... my sister has the prettiest kids on the face of the planet. Which, in turn, makes me have the prettiest nieces and nephews. Being their YaYa is just about the neatest privilege there is... it's right up there with Motherhood. Except with more spoiling and less worry.

I became an aunt when I was in Tenth Grade. I was sitting in the middle of Chemistry (Mr. Gordon- for you local.yocals...I appologize if you just had an overwhelming feeling of dread, or smelled putrid esthers or curdled milk). My sister had gone to the hospital earlier that morning for an induction. It was raining cats and dogs. Serious flash flooding. I had never driven in rain before. And as anticipated, the office aid came to give me my check.out pass. It was BEBE.TIME! And from that moment in my life, everything changed.

For the better, of course.

She was the brightest thing in my life... and things only got better when my other nieces and nephews were born. But for four years, she was my only.

And now she's going to Middle.School. I can't imagine what her parents must be feeling! Because if I feel this way- then they must be a total mess. I'm excited to see her grow up and benefit from all the experiences that come with age. BUT my heart won't let me get passed the locker combinations, Mean.Girls, boys, dressing out for P.E, makeup, boys, puberty... boys. In all honesty, middle school is the worst place on Earth.

Oh. Okay, you think I'm exaggerating? Fine! Take ten seconds right now to reflect on YOUR middle school experience! Yeah, you just lunged for the bathroom, right? It doesn't matter who you are or what you do: Middle school is TOUGH. A total, brutal right of passage. But we all got through it. And so will she. *gulp*

As far as I was concerned, there was only one real thing necessary to get her metally prepared for this BIG step. (Although I did entertain the thought of lighting candles, snake charming, and breaking out the Crisco to anoint her with oil and pray to Heaven and back, Old.Testament.Style.) Yes, only one thing left to do... a night at The Studio with Duke. Momma and I planned out a night.o.beauty. Her parents gave us STRICT instructions not to cut too much. I mean, could you blame them? After all, her YaYa has razor short, spikey hair that's half blond and half screamin.red. A creative brain.child from the master himself, Duke! So perhaps they were a little gun shy. Reasonable so. But all in all, the results were fantastic.





I have to say, she can rock a Duke.do almost as good as her Yas. ;) And that says a lot!

We cranked up the music, sipped on our lattes, and chatted the night away. Afterwards, we played around Perkins Rowe, browsed Barnes and Noble, and ate at California Pizza Kitchen. I'm so glad we did this.






So today was Reagen's first day of school. I hope it went well. I hope she could open her locker. I hope she found all her classes. I hope she found a place to sit at lunch. I hope she feels as beautiful and as smart as she really is. And if she ever felt scared, I hope she thought of me.


Peace, love, and Jansports.
xo
lmkw