First "oops" moment

We're 5 weeks in to the new school year (can you believe it??) and finally had the first "ARGH" Matt-in-middle-school moment.  And "middle school" isn't really the problem.

Over the last month, I've probably been asked 30 times how Matt is doing in middle school.  With an "I-don't-want-to-curse-it" attitude, I've told them it was going surprisingly well (an usually knocked on a wood surface, just in case).

Let's be honest, middle school is not the easiest time of a kids life.   Any kid.   However, as the mom of an already quirky, awkward son with ADHD (nevermind the already crazy, pre-puberty stage), I had probably spent more than my fair share of time considering all the things that could go wrong both socially and academically.

But*knock on wood* we've been pleasantly surprised so far.  His grades have been awesome, he joined the cross country team, all of his teachers seem good (and a few of them are GREAT) and he seems to be making use of the blessing that is his last period FOCUS (study hall).  I think he's forgotten one thing at school in 5 weeks, which just might be a lifetime achievement for Matt.

When he got in the car this afternoon I asked what the homework situation was and he mentioned a social studies test tomorrow.   What?  I asked him on Friday to bring home everything that he would have a test in this week so we could get organized and get a head start on studying.  Nobody mentioned a Social Studies test.    Did he just find out about it today?   No.   Why didn't he bring stuff home on Friday?  He forgot.  Plus, he said, "it wasn't in my planner because the teacher didn't write it on the board."  

But you knew you had the test, right?

"Oh, yes."

So, let me get this straight, you didn't write it in your planner because the teacher didn't write it on the board?   You know you can write down more than the teacher does, right?

So on this beautifully amazing Monday afternoon that already included a make-up cross country meet, Kumon and gymnastics  (and for Matt, the hope to watch Monday Night Football), we now had to study for our first social studies test (which was over a month's worth of material).   And yes, this is a "we" thing.

Luckily, Bassam made it home early enough to see Matt run in the meet.  I had to skip the race to get Gracie and get her to Kumon earlier, since her work takes twice as a long as Matt's, plus I needed to be able to build in study time for social studies since Bassam would be heading back to work after dropping Matt at Kumon.  So I fed them a nutritious dinner of Chick Fil A and then spent the next 90 minutes helping Matt study in the mini-van while Gracie was in gymnastics.  On the seat next to me was a pile of my own work I had originally been planning to tackle. It's still there.

For a mom who tries desperately to keep her kids schedules manageable in terms of activities in a town where "more is better," it sure didn't feel like it tonight. Without using the words "I told you so," I talked to Matt at bedtime about how being organized, managing our time and using our planner could have made tonight easier for him.

"Really, Mom, it wasn't that bad. I think I've got this."

While I wanted to remind him that it wasn't all about it him, that his choices affected all of us and that yes, in fact, he could write as much as he wanted in the planner---I bit my tongue.  I was tired.  He was tired.  I was crabby.  He thought I was over-reacting, I'm sure.

"Okay.  Good night."