Big scary Middle School

August is upon us and as may be the case in your household, the Christensen clan has been busy hunting and gathering backpacks, notebooks, pencils and sundry school supplies for the offspring that have taken up residence in our house.

This year, the normal migration back to school has been a little more stressful as Kerri has decided to re-enter the fourth grade, this time as a student teacher. This year some of the responsibility for shuttling papers, changing schedules and attending meetings fell to me.

Kerri and Nathan started back to school on Wednesday and Sarah, Ruth and I zipped up to Artesia to have our yearly spectacle adjustment.

However, before we left town, we had to take a few signed papers to Nathan's school. Did I mention that Nathan entered the big scary Middle School this year. Now, Nathan doesn't seem to think that Middle School is all that big or particularly scary. But for the two little girls who accompanied me into those halls, that place was as big and scary as any haunted Transilvanian chateau.

They seemed fine as we pulled into our parking spot, as they eagerly hopped out of the Jeep. But as we ran the gauntlet of teachers that lead up to the front steps, I noticed two hands gripping mine with increasing intensity.

Ruthie refused to speak as we entered the building, while Sarah mustered just enough courage to whisper to those who inquired that she was going into fourth grade. I am sure that you are aware of the size difference between elementary school teachers and those giants one finds in the halls of Middle Schools. One can only imagine how scary they must have looked to the wide eyed little girls that clung to my side. It must have seemed like an eternity before we made it to the relative safety of the Nurses office. I say relative, because according to Ruthie, Middle School has a "HUGE" nurses office.

We made it out alive and ran the gauntlet again before returning to the car. You could feel the tension dissipate as the doors closed and seat belts clicked, securing us inside. After a moment of silence, Ruthie remarked, "Daddy, those teachers look just like the ones at my school, 'cept those ones have different faces." Wouldn't it be interesting to see life through the eyes of a kid again?

Having said that, the high school kids who came into my Introduction to Print class this morning looked pretty intimidating. Much more so than the ones that I went to high school with.