Between the trip to Paris, celebrating my fiftieth, and the constant mass shootings, I haven't really focused on the fact that Rose finishes middle school this year. I feel meh about her middle school experience. It's true that I've pretty much haven't been involved--I rarely volunteer or see the work she's doing--but I think if the school had been awesome, I might have noticed and gotten more involved.

I do have to give credit that she had not been beat up, lured into drugs, forced into sex, or cyberbullied. One can't actually take any of that for granted, and that's not just true now. It was true in my day too, well except for the cyber part of the bullying. But, no, Rose has sailed through middle school with great friends no social media, and only one anti-Semitic bullying incident which got resolved well.

Her classes have been mixed. Yes, she's in this program that supposedly operates two grade levels ahead, but that doesn't mean the teaching is innovative or even good. That seems completely teacher dependent. I'd say she's had a few fantastic teachers, one dreadful, and the rest were ok. She does now write extremely well, can think critically about history, and loves music. I'm sure John could say good things about her mathematical thinking, but I haven't been paying attention.

What I've really enjoyed is her attitude adjustment. In 6th and 7th grade she panicked a lot about getting big projects done, levels of homework, quality of homework, basically, how to be perfect. She hasn't kicked that habit, and she still cares too much about grades (as opposed to sleep and family time), but she seems much more relaxed this year. She gets her work done, gets it done well, and occasionally even jokes about it. I credit her Bat Mitzvah, which showed her she could do anything, and the 8th grade rule the school business. It's good to be the oldest.

So, that's what I'm scared about. She's going to go from being the oldest to the youngest. Because we are sending her to a private prep school, she's going from easily meeting all academic expectations to possibly, perish the thought, not capable of getting an A. I went to this school and did not get all A's. It was fine for me. My parents always said as long as you do your best, we don't care about your grades. I say the same to Rose, but I know she doesn't feel this way.

My girl came out of middle school well educated, confident, with tons of kind, polite, goofy loving friends. In retrospect, I suppose I couldn't ask for more.