Year 2 of 13

As Zach was graduating from preschool in June of '13 I did a couple of blog posts on Graduation and transitions into Kindergarten. At the time, I said that K - 12 are the most important years of our lives. Before then, we are preparing for that time. After then, we make our decisions based of who we became during that time. Zach is in year 2 of the 13, first grade. Now that the year is more settled, I have seen the changes.

Last year, I let him play in the front after school. He got out at 12:30. Now, he's in school all day. He'll play in the front for a little bit, then he moves to the playground in the back. He plays with who's there. On average he plays for 45 minutes after school. He plays with kids of all ages. He plays like the boys played when I was in elementary school.

It's not just at school. There are a couple of friends real close to us that he plays with. For one of them, we have been able to see him playing in his yard from our apartment. That's how close this kid lives to us. They are friends now. So sometimes there will be a knock on the door. 12 year olds play with them too sometimes time. They play until dinner when homework is done. As long as there aren't any after school activities.

Raise your hand if you had a friend like that when you were in the most important 13 years of your life:

**********hand goes up high***********

Tonight there is a family activity at his school. We are going. We went last year and it was fun. After hearing we are going, a couple of friends asked about it. It's going to be fun for everyone. It's the kind of thing that makes this town so special.

We don't have busing in this town. This means parents are more likely to know each other. More likely to know the adult in charge for play dates. Kids are more likely to walk home together. For some kids, they only get to play with certain friends after school before it's time to leave. So they get that energy out.

When I take Zach to his tutoring, it's at the middle school. You can clearly see a large number of kids hanging out playing on the grass out front. Others, are playing basketball on the court in the back of the school. It's like what they did in elementary school but without the parent supervision. They are in years 6 - 9 of the most important 13 years of their lives. The games and topics of conversations are very different, but some things haven't change.

He's in year 2 of the most important 13 years of his life. His life now is very close to what mine was like at his age. I love watching the changes he's experienced since school started. He's developing those friendships with staying power. Some will fade after high school graduation. Some will stick most if not all of his life. In the meantime, "send him home when your mom calls you in for dinner."