Hamburgers and Ham Sandwiches and Remembering Grade Seven

    I just got home from ballet. It was so good tonight! I am getting stronger and so I can plie and and demi plie (my apologies if I am spelling this very wrong) and attempt other moves with more confidence it seems and I like that feeling. I am also going to be in the recital again this year so I am excited for my children to see that again. Anyway I got home and my sweet little eleven year old was wide awake not able to sleep. Why you ask? Well let me tell you. She, along with another group of children in the school has planned a lunch for all the teachers in the school.  I dont really know how many teachers there are. The school is not that large but lets say there are about thirty staff they are planning to feed. They planned a lunch with Greek Salad, Caesar Salad, Hamburgers with all the fixings, Brownies I believe, and I think this was to be a BBQ. Anyway she came home and told me of this plan and she was on Greek Salad duty. I almost choked because that much Greek Salad is not going to come cheap (she very honestly thought she was doing me a favor however as she assumed baking was much more expensive) and I had to find time to run out and buy it as I had already grocery shopped for the week, and then I groaned for the parents who were selected to buy the meat! It turns out that the parents selected are not going to buy the meat because of the said unexpected and unrealistic expectations of the grade sevens and grade eights, and so now sandwiches are on the menu. However how could I forget grade seven!!!! Grade seven where EVERYTHING is drama and the end of the world. Like calling a boy on the phone (not one that you have a crush on or anything just to inform him of changes of plans) or changing a hamburger BBQ to sandwiches and salad, or cleaning your room and the list goes on. I tend to get all mean and crazy trying to tamp down the drama but MY OWN PRECIOUS grade seven year filters back and I remember it oh so clearly, and then I shut my mouth.
  I was just entering the world of school again after homeschooling since grade three AND I was entering grade SEVEN half way through the year to boot. Grade seven is not the most graceful year to start school. Anyway I did it and the drama in that classroom that year was high. We had a sweet male teacher who was single and young and the poor man didn't know what to do sometimes. All the girls would be in a royal battle ~ usually two groups pitted against each other (this was small private school). I usually would be trying to negotiate between the two sides never having really dealt with this before being so sheltered homeschooling and all, but it never worked. Somehow our teacher would be drawn into it and sometimes he would break down and sob. The poor poor man. He didn't have a chance. I remember bawling over Math homework and my mom calling the teacher about it because she couldn't handle my drama and him telling me for heavens sake's just not to do it. He probably thought I was having a nervous break down and I probably did as well...it was Math child, much worse was coming!
   I remember a project I did with another girl....she didn't not have the same standard of excellence I had...so tension rose high and I ended up in hysterical tears on the phone in the school office to my mom. My poor mom....what the heck was she to do? Anyway she did what needed to be done and the girl and I had the much needed conversation where we were both in tears and the project was eventually finished and we got a grade I deemed fit. The drama was so high though, so so high!!!.
   SO we'll see how THIS saga goes. Will there be BBQ'd hamburgers on Thursday due to girls losing their minds over the fact that sandwiches are just not acceptable and they have already told the teachers they are getting a BBQ? Or will by some miracle logic appear and empathy in realizing this completely unexpected cost tossed on us poor parents with two days notice is not exactly fair. I have a feeling there will be quite broken hearts and ham sandwiches served....and that we will all live to see the light of Friday...which is a pro D day...enough time for them to recover and heal before grade seven resumes on Monday.
  Lord help us one and all...being eleven is the end of the world.