Middle School and Letting Go

This year Gabby started Middle School, 6^th grade or Junior High…however you want to see it. Big stuff, Right? 

She started on August 15^th, a Thursday. Her aide from elementary school, Mr. Williams, met her there and stayed until she told him to leave, which was after second period. He made Gabby show him where her classroom was, her locker, the gym etc.…. He told her, “Gabby, I don’t know this school, it’s your school, and you show me around.” He had sent me text stating that she was doing great and was getting the hang of getting around.

So, on the following Monday, I took her to school and on our drive (which is from West Roseville to Carmichael), I asked her a few questions.

“So Gabs, tell me again what class you have first?”

And she said “PE”.

“And what do you need to bring to PE again?”

“Just my binder”

“Do you need your locks?”

“No, no locks yet, they will tell us when we need our locks for our PE lockers”

“I forget, what room do you go to?”

“25.” 

AWESOME. She knows it all! So, I walk her up to the hallway that leads to the lockers, say bye and walk away with Lucy. Lucy and I get about halfway around the building and I tell her, I have to go back. Lucy can tell that I am crying and she asks if I am worried about Gabby and I tell her yes. I look down the long hallway and Gabby is standing at the end, almost to the hallway she needs to go down for her locker. She’s looking around, and then her shoulders pick up and she knows where she needs to go. We watch her put her stuff in her locker and we walk away.

There are teachers at the end of every hallway making sure kiddos are going where they need to go. I stop to talk to one but I was having a hard time through the tears. But he gets the gist of what I am worried about and calls over the principle. The principle is so nice and he walks Lucy and I back to his office, pulls up Gabby’s student file and says, “I’ll got check to make sure she is where she needs to be.” About 3 minutes pass and he walks in with 2 thumbs up and says she’s in room 25 listening to her PE teacher lecture. He reassured me that he had met with Mr. Williams last week and Mr. Williams was VERY confident that Gabby could handle this new transition. The principle then hands me a handful of Tootsie Roll Suckers and tells me to have one every time I am worried about her today and to remember that she can do this.

Of course she can. She knows what she is doing.  She’s got this.

I’m bursting with pride and happiness. And a little bit of shame that I doubted her abilities.

Picking her up was amazing. An aide walked out with her to let us know how great she did. She said, if she were I, she wouldn’t think twice about dropping her off. Gabby knows what she is doing, where she is going and what she needs to do. I thought my heart was going to burst open. Her and Gabby then rattled off names of all her friends in each class and lunch. AMAZING!

I high fived my girl and we headed off to pick up Lucy. Gabby ran into her 5^th grade teacher and Mrs. K hugged her and said, “Gabby I have missed you! You were my inspiration!”

Truth is, Gabby is my inspiration too.