So this post is all about my Mac Attack.
He just finished track season and this year seemed to have a lot of "social" things happening throughout it!
He was on Cedar Ridge's track team because our little school does not have any sports teams. He was pretty excited about it, I think, for a few different reasons. He knows a lot of the kids at Cedar Ridge because he went to grade school with them for a few years at Sandy Grade and has played sports with them outside of school since we moved here. I am thankful that he keeps in touch with all of these kids even though he doesn't see them everyday. I think being on the CR track team helped him feel like he was really part of a middle school. At OTA, his class is the oldest of kids and the only 6th grade class, so it does NOT feel like a traditional middle school in anyway. We have kept him at OTA because of the smaller class sizes and the IB teaching and curriculum ways/environment have been a great value to his education. I know it's completely lacking in giving him a "middle school" type experience and social life, but in my mind, the education piece is more important right now. Besides, he has never had issues making friends or socializing, so he is doing just fine in this area and he does have a social life on a smaller scale maybe from others that go to a bigger school or middle years school.
Anyhow,
He had a good track season. He tried almost every race and even did long jump. Pat and I encouraged him to try new races/events at each track meet.
He is in the red shirt-
He enjoyed riding the bus to the track meets with his team mates/buddies. This might sound funny to some of you, but our school does not have buses, so he really hasn't had many opportunities to ride on the bus with friends. It was definitely a social highlight (0:
He had a few other social happenings that have been quite a journey for us! The first would be his very "first" girl crush. I didn't really know exactly how much he "liked" her until they had been chatting over texts, at practice and track meets, etc for a few weeks. He has had his cell phone for awhile, but it's never been something that he really spent much time on- at all...well, let me tell ya...you throw a girl into a boy's life and WOW...that's all they want to do is text each other! I guess it's not much different from when I was young and would hide with our house phone and talk to a boy for a whole hour....but, I didn't do it all that much because we only had one phone and my Dad was always in ear-shot! LOL....plus, I think kids now day's say a lot of things they may not really mean or understand or wouldn't normally say simply because they are texting vs having face to face conversations and "voice" conversations. It really is very different from how I grew up as far as communication devices go!!!We have rules/guidelines in place for his phone, but it had really just never been a "big deal" before. He most definitely got caught up in texting past his allowed time and we got a whoppin' dose of how much these kids love face-time!!!! Mac does not have a Facebook account like most of his classmates and friends do, but you can still face-time even if you don't have a Facebook account. We didn't have guidelines/rules for things this specific because he had never been interested in them before. We do have the rule that his laptop is shut off by 9:00 pm every night so he isn't up late playing games, etc. He has a laptop simply because they do almost all of their school work and homework on it. His teacher has a homework blog that he has to check everyday to even do his homework assignments! SO- with all of this comes responsibility and how to properly "handle" cyber world. I think this is one of the main reasons parents should be in the know about how computers, cell phones, I pads, I touches, MP3 players, Kindles, tablets, etc work...because at some point, your child will have access to them!
Anyhow, I have to say that Mac actually handled all of this new social media stuff pretty darn well. He definitely needed a bit if guidance and we talked to him every single evening (much to his dis-liking) about what's proper and what's not proper and to remind him of what our rules are and that he had to follow them.
I read all of his texts (for now) simply because things come up or get said that he doesn't always know how to handle or respond too- and he needs to have us help him figure it out. He knows (and has done a good job) that he should never say anything bad/negative about someone or to someone in a text. He knows that he should never put something in a text or email that he wouldn't be able to say to the person face to face.
I did let him go on a group date with this gal that he liked. He asked for permission and knew that I would know some of the other mom's and kids going. I told him yes because it was a group thing. Pat and I talked to him about what was OK and what wasn't OK in a social situation like this. We also explained to him that if he was going to have crushes or any interests in "girls" that he had to have a major chat with us about what being a gentleman means!! We told him that since he asked her to the movies, he had to use his allowance to buy her ticket. It was funny...he was the only boy that did this out of the whole group that went. I don't know...maybe I am just old-fashioned?? Seemed proper to me...even if it was a group date and very innocent, still seemed proper.
So, back to this girl...he met her at track and they really hit it off. They do not go to the same school, so they really only got to see each other at track. We noticed as the weeks ticked by that she seemed to not have a lot of rules or parental guidance. I am in no way shape or form saying anything bad about her, she just simply doesn't have as much "guidance" as Mac does. This definitely created a little bit of an issue for them. She would get upset that he couldn't text late or meet up with her some where or be on the computer all the time. She seemed more "mature" than Mac as far as some social situations (at this age, that is the norm). She seemed to want more of a true boyfriend/girlfriend type deal. I think Mac realized he had just sort of jumped into this "girl stuff" just a little bit too quickly, it was funny to watch him and see how he reacted. He held her hand at the movies, which sort of shocked us...I didn't think he would cross that bridge...but he did. Yes, I know...it's just hand-holding, but I think it's a big deal! (He is so gonna be mad at me for blogging this)
It didn't take long after that move, she wanted him to have his arm around her at practice or meets. She had also said some things in texts that were just way over the top for him. We chatted about it all and he seemed to feel like he was being pressured a bit, so we just gave him some advice and let him figure most of it out on his own. Of course, I had moments of "I am ending this thing NOW!", but as I thought more about it and chatted with others, I decided it was best to use this whole thing as a teaching/learning experience. After all, he was being open with us, talking with us and keeping us in the loop...so that's a big advantage. I KNOW there are tons of kids out there that have parents that have NO CLUE what they are texting, emailing, face-booking, skyping or insta-gramming!!!!!! They never talk with or check in with their parents, it's crazy! Anyhow, Mac is not in that category, so we used this as a lesson because at some point, like when he's 16, he's not going to tell us everything and he will need to know how to handle situations all on his own!
We also explained to him that just because everyone around him has a "girlfriend" at the moment...doesn't mean he needs one! The "love bug" has been running rampant for all these middle-schoolers!
Man...it must be Spring Fever or something!!!
I love this photo, not because it's a great photo shot...but because of the moment we were in...we were reading thru some things on his phone and talking about silly girls and goofy boys and laughing about it all- a little laughter and sense of humor, go a long, long ways sometimes!!!!
We are conservative in this house/family...some of the ideas and situations that Mac faces each and every day are concerning. They are things that we didn't hear or had to be faced with at such a young age. We try to be somewhat open-minded and acknowledge that times are different. The challenge seems to be-
to be open-minded to certain things without changing our beliefs and values. We are not willing to compromise on them. We try everyday to be a positive example to our kids of what our beliefs and values are and we hope it shows them that you have to have courage to follow thru on them, to embrace them and to LIVE them.
Mac and his first gal crush did "break-up"- I knew it would happen shortly after track was over simply becasue they wouldn't see each other much, if at all. We do keep him very busy (0:
Mac learned a lot from it and they broke-up over the phone, voice to voice, not in a text...like so many people do now. They were both respectful towards each other about it- He knew she was going to break up with him, so he told her she had to call him and speak to him. I am proud of him...proud of how he handled all of it. Way to go Mac Attack. Your awesome and we love you (0:
Remember this: A slow dance with the wrong partner can be a tad awkward. A slow dance with the right partner is one of life's sweetest pleasures-
PS: I know I am an over-bearing Momma, but it's for your own good...and also...I can't have a kid dating and a kid in diapers...it's just not gonna work for me!!! Ha-Ha!!!
