It's the end of the summer II

First day of school, part two: Abigail
Today was Abby's day to go back to school, although, unlike Johanna, she won't have tomorrow off to recuperate.  (Johanna spent her day off with her grandparents.  Apparently she taught Grandma some new games that involve flip flops and a water bottle.  I'm a little afraid to ask for details.)

The kid was up at 6:40 a.m., which is just slightly on the miraculous side of a miracle because she has some insomniac issues going on and this summer she's been rolling out pretty late.  Or maybe she's just reading in bed.  "No, I wake up at 9 a.m. on a regular morning because I am so hot and I need my beauty sleep to make me look beautiful.  Thank you." *  (Abby is reading over my shoulder to make sure I get it all down correctly.  I guess I did.)

She says she didn't put a lot of thought into her outfit ("I just threw on jeans and a t-shirt because I look good in anything!"), but I think she's sort of lying to me on this--the "no thought" aspect, because she does look good in anything.  She's just at that age where she's adorable no matter what.  It's totally not fair, but I'm not bitter, plus I'm moving on, since this really isn't about me anyway.

She straightened her hair.  A lot.  She brushed her teeth.  She laced up her Converse.  Somehow she managed to lift her humongous backpack--that sucker was weighed down with all manner of supply.  Honestly, I'm not sure why kids today aren't hunchbacks with the loads they're made to carry.  

AND she consented to a couple of pictures before we headed out the door.  This took some amazing negotiating on my part, but I prevailed.  (You don't start seventh grade every day, Abs.  Throw your mother a bone.)

Abby had planned to meet her best friend at a certain time in front of the school.  What we didn't take into account is the road construction going on.  (Here's my rant about that: If you're going to put in sidewalks so kids can use them to walk to school, maybe you should work on that BEFORE school starts and not wait until the end of August.  And still be working WHEN school starts.)  This made us about ten minutes late, which did not help the mood in the car any, but we made it at long last, and Abby reports that she found her friend in the hallway, and all was well.

Abby is not one to shy away from details, so perhaps I learned a little TOO much about her day today.  (Is there such a thing?  Actually, I'm thrilled she'll still talk to me.)  Here's what I have learned through an intensive (?) interviewing process:

1. She filled out five "getting to know you" papers today.
2. In math, she was asked what she dreams of being after high school.
3. She said she doesn't know, but she'll probably just be a ninja.
4. In Language Arts, she wrote a poem about being a ninja.
5. Ninjas are a viable career path when you're 12.
6. She's taking drama.
7. "We read plays and crap.  It was messed up."
8. She did not elaborate WHY that was messed up.
9. Lunch is at 12:44 p.m.  This, too, was messed up.
10. I totally agree.  That lunch hour is just mean.
11. In social studies, she gave Obama a "C" and Congress an "F."
12. She also watched Channel 1 News.
13. That wasn't messed up, just boring.
14. She has four classes with her best friend.
15. And she has homework tonight, which consists of me signing all her syllabi.
16. So I guess that means I'm really the one with the homework.

*Abby clearly does not suffer from a low self esteem.  AND she loves words.  Sometimes this means I want to wring her neck, but mostly it's quite entertaining.

Did you listen to that Theory of a Deadman song from yesterday?  Well, go do that.  I'm too lazy to pick another song tonight.