Growth Spurts

Alex's schedule was changed around a lot at the beginning of this semester. He was assigned to a different lunch period (goodbye friends!), subjected to taking PE (ugh...where does a trans-male change into PE clothes?!) and Health (awwwwwkward topics *shudder*), but the worst part was losing his favorite teacher and getting assigned to his least favorite teacher in the whole school :( (least favorite so far, anyway...). It was an incredibly stressful discovery. I had to restrain myself a little from swooping in to the rescue. But only a little because Alex has been pushing hard on the "I wanna be free" angle lately. And this, my dear boy, is part of managing your own life. When Alex calmed down a bit, I helped him figure out the things that were bothering him the most and he came up with a plan to email his counselor. His request was respectful, her response was respectful but not helpful, and his counter offer was logical, evidence-based, and still respectful. He went to visit his favorite teacher and bemoan the situation. His teacher instantly said he'd put in a good word and some pressure to get Alex switched back to his class. See, Alex? You have skills and resources and patience! Go, Alex, go! A couple days later, Alex gets the news that the counselor won't budge. Alex will need to finish the semester with this teacher that he can't abide. Not the news he wanted. He did his best and still didn't get what he wanted, but that's okay. Yet another important thing to experience! He's managed to see a silver lining through his disappointment, though...he's found new friends to sit with at lunch, an old friend to hang out with in PE, and his best friend is in Health with him. PE and Health are now his favorite classes. Friends make all the difference. Also, his new teacher seems to be moving through the material faster, which Alex appreciates very much.

Alex, you are resilient. That will serve you well.

***

Robert finally wore pants to school this week. He's been stubbornly wearing shorts pretty much every school day since school first went virtual...almost 2 years ago? As he walked into the school today, I noticed his pants were quite a bit short for him. Way back when, I had taken up the hem several inches because Robert's belly required size 14 pants while his legs were still content to be size 10 length. What a difference a couple growth spurts make! It just wasn't as obvious to me when he was only wearing boys' athletic shorts. Robert is now fitting size 14 pants as they were designed, being the size of a 14-year old (yes, even the size of the 14-year-old in our house) at the age of almost 12. He likes to remind me almost every day that he will soon be taller than me. That will be a first for me...I knew it was coming, but...holy moly.