My oldest son is now 13. I had no idea how much this would hit me. It wasn’t necessarily the fact that he became a teenager, and how much more white hair I am covering up with dye. Instead, what affected me the most was the feeling of being shut out of his life. I was not even remotely close to being ready for that feeling ?. When nearly every answer to every question is, “I don’t know,” or “Sure,” as a mom-it stings. I know my son has a vast vocabulary because it felt like not long ago, he wouldn’t stop talking to me—now I’m left with a changed child I am struggling to relate to in the same way.
I’ve tried to learn a lot of teenage things without seeming lame–I’m failing at this–but I’m trying. Middle school boys, I’ve learned (as many of you know), are interesting, delicate creatures who use strange words and do funny dances with even more bizarre names like, “Gritty.” I’ve learned some slang but am careful not to ever actually use the words. Heaven, forbid I say something is “fire,” ? ? ? but at least I understand what it means when my son says it. I have never felt so much like I’m out of touch and unrelatable at the same time while doing everything possible to try and connect.
The changes feel like they came overnight during a school year that has been full of change. The never-ending changes in COVID protocols, masks, no masks, now masks again. Pool testing, then no pool testing. Lunch together, then separate again. So. Much. Change. But, through it all our educators persisted, and your Union worked hard to make those changes as smooth as possible. MEA fought, and won, COVID sick days, increased funding for schools, more money for your pension and more. You can read more about the advocacy work of MEA..
MEA knows this was the hardest school year, likely ever, and wanted to make sure that the public understood all you’ve dealt with this year. Dealing with every challenge and change was difficult but you found ways to connect, and helped students finish the school year with as much success as possible. Those stories were important to share, and MEA launched a Thanks2You media campaign to help parents and community members learn more about what this year was really like. You can check out the videos on our website, maineea.org and read more about the campaign..
While hard, change can be good. While transitioning from masks to no masks, there was the joy of seeing smiles again. And when pool testing stopped, there was the hope COVID numbers were declining. And when my teenager found more independence and ventured to Starbucks on his own, he had something new he wanted to talk to me about… so I let him chat for as long as he wanted about his new favorite drink. I will hold on to all the little moments that made me smile this school year that was full of change, and it is in those moments I will find joy…. because I hear monkeypox is a “thing…” and who the heck knows what that means or what it’s bringing (funny not funny). So, for now, celebrating summer is priority number one; you all have more than earned it.
