Oh gosh, all the middle school feels! I remember those keenly. Have you seen Mortified Nation? It’s adults reading their childhood/teenage diary entries in front of a live audience. Hysterical and delightful
Wow, who knew we were all writing the same kinds of things? The lists and scorekeeping are hilarious. Even my husband has a diary where he assigned a number to every classmate and then wrote nasty comments about "#6 did this today," etc. Think how helpful it would be to middle school kids to know that all of them are having such similar thoughts and feelings. I remember it as a time when I felt great shame for who I was and how I felt. If I had realized how universal my experience was, I might have felt more connected to other kids rather than feeling like a weirdo.
Your diary gave me a good laugh because both me and my sister have found our old dairies with similar levels of melodrama haha.
I also find your line "Middle school is where kids practice being mean to each other because we’ve been convinced that this is a necessary life skill for adulthood." very insightful. I'd never had it put in terms like that, and it just really clicked for me in a way that I loved. Thank you for that!
Thank you for speaking to us earlier this week via the Columbus Metro Library. An added and unexpected bonus was finding out about your newsletter. Thank you for sharing and keeping me thinking.
I LOVE that you find value in your middle school writing! And that you are proud of your younger self. I have my old journals, and while parts are painful, and they are absolutely cringe-worthy, there are also some great nuggets. I look at my old journals & can see myself working on my craft, and I see the seeds of who I am today. I'm seeing the same things here, what a wonderful gift!
Your diary is the most relatable thing ever, and giving it to your kid?? You are a FAR braver woman than I.
I have a theory that 50% of therapy is getting over middle school.
Oh gosh, all the middle school feels! I remember those keenly. Have you seen Mortified Nation? It’s adults reading their childhood/teenage diary entries in front of a live audience. Hysterical and delightful
Wow, who knew we were all writing the same kinds of things? The lists and scorekeeping are hilarious. Even my husband has a diary where he assigned a number to every classmate and then wrote nasty comments about "#6 did this today," etc. Think how helpful it would be to middle school kids to know that all of them are having such similar thoughts and feelings. I remember it as a time when I felt great shame for who I was and how I felt. If I had realized how universal my experience was, I might have felt more connected to other kids rather than feeling like a weirdo.
That was pure joy!
Your diary gave me a good laugh because both me and my sister have found our old dairies with similar levels of melodrama haha.
I also find your line "Middle school is where kids practice being mean to each other because we’ve been convinced that this is a necessary life skill for adulthood." very insightful. I'd never had it put in terms like that, and it just really clicked for me in a way that I loved. Thank you for that!
It most definitely was not just you. ❤️
Thank you for speaking to us earlier this week via the Columbus Metro Library. An added and unexpected bonus was finding out about your newsletter. Thank you for sharing and keeping me thinking.
I LOVE that you find value in your middle school writing! And that you are proud of your younger self. I have my old journals, and while parts are painful, and they are absolutely cringe-worthy, there are also some great nuggets. I look at my old journals & can see myself working on my craft, and I see the seeds of who I am today. I'm seeing the same things here, what a wonderful gift!
Well, this was absolutely delightful! I think the word "brave" is overused, but dayum, this qualifies! :)
I loved this. You were very self aware. And i completely agree that middle school, or in my case, junior high, was the hardest!!!!
Thanks for sharing this. How awesome to be able to look back at your 14 year old self.