6th Grade Revisited - "Dating"

After our one mile run, I wanted to enjoy my son’s playground a little bit…after all, I did not get to spend much time on the playground as a 6th grader. Recess for me equaled bullies, so setting foot on the pavement was not an option. I did go outside during winter time, however, only because Indiana winters produced shivering popsicles, no one, not even the meanest of bullies could move during those cold days. We all used to stand in one place and pray for recess to be over. No matter how many layers a mother puts on the child, they still freeze during recess.

Now back in the present, as I was running from apparatus to apparatus with reckless abandon, I noticed there were a few pieces of equipment I had never seen before. “What do you kids do on those things?” I said. My son looked at me and with some hesitation he said, “Umm we don’t really play over in that area, that is where kids go and ‘date’…Scccreeeech stop the car, pull over, WHAT? My son laughed and said, “Mom you have a lot to learn about 6th grade.” At that moment I felt like I was no longer revisiting 6th grade No, at that moment I became an investigative journalist uncovering the seedy underground world of 6th grade, with a duty to report my findings.

First I want to report, 6th graders talk about S-E-X, yes that’s right! I am pretty sure I was still playing with Barbie and her friends, but times have changed. So parents if you have not talked to your kids about sex before 6th grade I would recommend you do so, because if not, they will get their education from their 11 and 12 year-old comrades who, probably have NO idea what they are talking about.

Back to dating…yes parents, kids “date” on the playground. They “ask each other out” during class… and by recess, BAM they are on their little 15 or 20 minute date. The dates consist of talking….and well, just talking I hope. My son could not give me any more info on this because he hasn’t dated yet…so he says. I am thinking about getting decked out in camouflage, with one of those army helmets with branches sticking out of the top. I am going to slither though the bushes by the playground with binoculars and get the full story…STAY TUNED