{They stink too}

A letter was waiting for us in our mailbox when we got home from vacation.
It was from the middle school that River will attend.
The letter listed his classes with the teachers names and room numbers and at the bottom of the page was the
(((((((drum roll please)))))))

LOCKER NUMBER AND COMBO!!!!!!!
the proof that you have made the big time!!

Blam!!!!!  Riv was hit with the coolness and rights of age with this top secret information.

We had to go to the school
AS SOOOOON AS POSSILBE!!!!
OMG!!!!!

We finally found locker #1146 in a long hallway at the back of the school.
This is where the 7th graders start their role as the
"bottom of the food chain"!!!
They get the crap lockers that they HAVE to share with another kid.  And you just hope that that kid isn't a booger picker/locker wiper.
This didn't matter to Riv even the slightest.  He opened, looked in, shut it.....opened it again....and again.....and again......just to make sure the combination was still the same from the last go round :)

We found all of his classes which are scattered from room 102 to portals out back.  The thrill of his locker will be short lived because I don't see him having time to run from one end of school to the other with a locker moment in between.   Riv is more concerned about the distance from his locker to the lunchroom!!! 
Cuz ya know the kid loooves his food!!!
NOW THAT will be a problem!!!

This is Jaime.

She's the boys' friend that lives on our street.

She is 6 months older than River and she is about 3 foot-something.

No, she's not a midge or anything....she is just one of those tiny people....very good in gymnastics!!!

She can literally fit in one of these lockers!!!!

Her mom and I were having fun torturing her with pictures!

We were home only for an hour when Riv got a call from his friends.  They decided to ride their bikes to school to calculate the distance and time it would take to get there each day.  10 minutes from our home if they hit the "walk" sign at the light.

12-13 minutes if they are stopped with the "don't walk" sign.

At the end of the night I asked how he felt about starting middle school now that he has seen his classes, rode his bike there, and found

 THE LOCKER.

He looked at me with eyes of confusion.

"I'm not really sure how I feel mom. 

I don't know if I am going to fit in."

{holding back a tearful scream, my heart broke into a million jagged pieces right then}

I say, "fit in????? are you kidding me????

Riv, you already have countless friends that will be with you.....and you totally fit in with them.  And who knows how many new ones you will meet.

But, I really do understand your anxiety.

I was the same kind of kid as you are just starting out.

Was it that group of girls with the boy that kept walking past us?

Was it them that made you feel different?"

"yah.....kinda" he said with his head down.

"Yah Riv.....I could see you tense up when they would come around. 

Let me tell you something. 

Those kids are punks and I feel sorry for them. 

They are already involved in boyfriend/girlfriend relations (could hear the girls talking on the phone), they swear with every other word because they think it makes them look more mature, which it does the opposite.

When you walk past those kids in the hall, NEVER EVER avoid eye contact.  NEVER EVER bow your head to them. NEVER EVER miss an opportunity to show your own strength.

Because ya know what Riv?????

At the end of the day, they  all go home to a dirty room with a mom and dad barking out orders, homework up the wahzoo, little siblings fighting them for the last piece of candy....

just like you

And guess what else????

They poop and stink up a bathroom too!!!!!

So when you have to look them in the face, try not to laugh your head off with the thoughts of them on a toilet!!!!"

We are not all that different from everyone else.

It's the power we allow them to have over us that makes us feel different.

I think my little pep/poop talk worked.

He starts spontaneously laughing and shaking his head.......

"Mom, you got me with the poop thing!!!!

It's gonna be alright. 

I feel real good about it mom!"