Parents, kids, and public middle school

"When I was young" we were a sloppy yet consistently big group of neighborhood kids that went through elementary, middle school and high school together. There were not other options other than catholic school in my youth... so the public schools were a pretty all encompassing group of children and adults within a defined geographical boundary. Never mind that the PTA back then was scary and a bit Stepfordwife-ish. There was a set of unspoken and spoken rules of how children and adults behave, what was acceptable in school, yada yada. And if little Johnnie or little Stephanie was out of line at school.... geez-lou-eezie you did not want to be there when their parents heard about it.
Middle school back then was mean. No two cents about it. Anyone who did not fit the mold (whatever that was at the moment) was tortured verbally, and the beginning of the clique culture began.
When I was faced with middle school for our daughter, I found a girls school that took her in. Her strength in math and science was developed at this point, and continue to give her an edge in high school. At the end of her time there, I left her dad and bought a farm. We moved to a small town.
Our son is gearing up for middle school. It feels like a slap in the face to me, I took him away from his Seattle friends thinking I was returning to a version of my childhood (yeah, I know you can't go back) where similar kids from allover a geographical area attend school together. Where it is clear what is acceptable, and what is not. HA. Would that be where kids divide by cultural background and taunt the kids not in their 'group'? Would that be where a middle school girl can be raped on a full SCHOOL BUS with no kids piping up and the driver not noticing? How about 11 year old kids being thrown against lockers and things thrown in toilets?
Fear of this is what makes parents, who have the financial ability, to homeschool or head off to private school.
I could do that with our daughter, what do I do with our son? I have thrown him into a substandard educational system, that seems to have no teeth against bullying and flat-out criminal activity. My daughter gets in arguments daily on the bus about gays, christianity and people of color. She told me yesterday that she is beginning to hate christianity. I told her the Ghandi quote "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ". It is hard to show her the middle road.

No Complaint Day

Photos: Top:I know the reason this grows on my trees is because the spores of the forest that once stood here 100 years ago still live in the area. Bottom: The trillium are blooming, or they were when I took this pic three weeks ago.

I have no complaints today. Just thought that would drop in a bit of fresh air. I probably shouldn't type anymore, because I will roll into some sort of whine about something. This Sunday in Kitsap County...

my old cat snores,

it was close to 70 degrees,

I sat in a chair outside "doing work due tomorrow" so slowly...,

had a great dinner with the kids made by the soon to-be-ex at his clean place, not my messy place in honor of mother's day,

had nice things said to me by our 14 year old, (who is almost as tall as her dad!)

had sunflowers in a pot given to me by our 10 year old son, (who is under the weather)

and I got stuck behind Bainbridge drivers who drive so retardedly (I know, not a word) slow like 10-15 miles below the speed limit that I almost expressed myself potty-mouth linguistically all the way across that godforsaken island. If I ever live on Bainbridge, you will know I am either a)on serious medication and not aware of my surroundings b)had a brain hemmorhage or traumatic head injury and so again "am not aware of my surroundings or c) I have lived through menopause but with a complete reversal of my personality and hormonal drives and come out the other side a middle-class housewife with an audi, timeshare in Hawaii, white carpets and furniture, botox injections, and a new husband who uses more facial products than I do. Happy days.

Did I mention the father of my beloved children live on Bainbridge? And he loves it?

And that little diatribe is not complaining. Or whining.

Note to readers: (also called the Seattle Disclaimer) The above is only my version of hell. I have never lived with white furniture and will probably not ever be attracted to a metrosexual man, this does not mean that audis or Hawaiian timeshares are evil. (Although... they aren't in the BIBLE) I digress. Damn, those bible teachings are thrilling! I digress again. I love you all. If you embrace the middle class ways as I have been taught to do, such as the experienced joy at a fresh mowed lawn or a fine cup of coffee made by an impertinent coffee puller (oops, I mean barista) it is all good. Marriage is good, homogeneity (?) is fine. Heck, we can even be friends if you live on Bainbridge. But it will be so very hard for me if you drive 15 miles under the speed limit on the highway. But I can do it. I live for the thrill of a good challenge. And my retard comment should have been the 70's 80's version where you drag out the REEEtard. Remember? If you are too young for that reference, or too old, then we can go with "mentally challenged" instead. See, you can take the girl out of Seattle, but not the Seattle PC out of the girl.