Taking it to the next level

Jack had a birthday a couple of weeks ago and we spent one Saturday night up to our ears in boys.  Pizza, Laser Tag and Guitar Hero, that sort of thing.  Also, there was a viewing of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  Which, in my opinion, is a great movie to fall asleep to.  It's so hard to concentrate on what they're saying that if you're the least bit sleepy you'll just drift off.  Those accents also make it harder for 11 year olds to decipher the inappropriate bits, which is a bonus.

So Jack is eleven now, which I have to say, is freaking me right out.  On one hand, he's so much fun to have around, most of the time anyway, but on the other hand- too fast!  It doesn't help that he's totally embracing the new marketing definitions for kids his age. Ever since he turned 9 he's been proclaiming himself a "tween." I've been alternately ignoring him and telling him you can't be a "tween" until you're 11.  The night before his birthday he said, "When I wake up tomorrow I will officially be a pre-teen." Ack!  No. No pre-teens.  Do they discuss this stuff at school?  Do you get to lord it over your "tweener" friends once you become a "pre-teen"?  Sort of like being the first one to get your driver's license only better because you don't spend the next year hauling your friends around wishing they'd just give you some gas money once in a while.

That night, the night before his birthday, Jack asked if I would snuggle up on the bed with him and read before lights out. I couldn't help but snap, "Oh really?  I don't think pre-teens need to snuggle with their mommies at bedtime." 

He laughed and said, "Aha! But you said I'm not!" We decided that, at the very least, he wasn't a preteen until his actual birthday the next day so it was okay to curl up on the bed with our respective books. Besides, I figured I should take advantage of that sort of thing while it lasts.

The next day I decided to embrace my new role as a mother to a pre-teen person and do what those mothers do best. Mortify their children in public. So I drove up to the front of the school in this:

It worked like a charm.

Comments

[Alisa]

I just may have to borrow that idea for the girls birthday. Except this year, as you know, it falls on saturday. Well, it will work even better two years from now when she's in 8th!!! What happened to our little kids?? Taylor joined a volunteer program, and Maloy was there! Hadn't seen her since Tutor Time. She remembered Taylor. Talk about a shock! Seeing her all grown was bizarre.
Happy Belated Birthday Jack!

[The Mom]

Are you guys still alive? Did some giant TN tornado rip through your life? Missing my southern updates!!! Hope everything is ok.