Top Of The Food Chain

I guess when you hit "The Big Time", a.k.a. 4th grade, it's just no big deal. No sweat. Same 'ol same 'ol.

You get up, put on your shorts and t-shirt, grab your perfectly worn in backpack ("NO WAY" was the response I got when I asked if it was time for a new backpack) and walk through the doors of the school like you own the place.

Gone are the days of ripping the tag off the brand new crinkly backpack the night before school. Gone are the days of checking your bag of school supplies 3 and 4 times just to daydream about what kind of things you will be doing with them. And what happened to the anxiety over that first morning in the classroom with your brand new teacher?

Maybe he just felt a calm cool about where he stands in the ranks of the elementary school.

See, this year, the 4th graders are in the 5th grade pod. The 4th graders are the ones with the lockers. This year, the 4th graders like Ben are the top of the elementary food chain.

Ben goes to a school that has both an elementary and a middle school. His school is part of a pilot program that has moved the 5th graders to the middle school side.

What this all means for Ben is that now his is elementary royalty...with a locker!!

He's already playing it pretty cool. When I asked him: how his first day was, does he like his teacher, is it awesome to be in the 5th grade pod and have a locker, the response I got to ALL questions was something like, "meh".

I suddently had to fight back my visual of Ben walking down the hall with his leather jacketed T-Birds in tow, combing back his slick hair to keep his duck tail in check.

He shouldn't play it too cool at home, though, because I have this on him...



Tell ya what...I feel bad for the poor 4th graders last year who have waited since Kindergarten to be a big 'ol 5th grader and are now sitting at the bottom of the middle school totem pole just waiting to be scalped. ouch