New Thing Number Eighteen

I volunteered at my mom's school for a couple days.

Is it still considered volunteering if they also volunteer to pay you?
My volunteering came first.
And I wasn't expecting to be paid.
But I obviously wasn't going to say no to being paid.

I kept an eye on the 9th graders while they worked in the media center. I guess it was a good experience, because I've been casually toying around with the idea of becoming a substitute teacher. You know, to experience new things.

Yeah, not doing that.

I became the "cool" sub and made friends with the kids, and some of them were really awesome. But my patience has its limits. I barely survived two days. If I had to actually teach them instead of just supervising, I fear heads would have been rolling down the hallways by the end of school. (If questioned, I will neither confirm nor deny anything.)

But it was a good opportunity to learn a few new things:

1. I sooooooo wasn't like that in 9th grade. And I will keep my biased memories tucked in a faraway corner forever so I will continue to remember 9th grade that way.

2. What happened to enjoying learning? Granted, middle school is more of a social torture chamber instead of a place of learning, but even I got a few things figured out by 9th grade. That was the year I decided to become an editor. Five years later, I became one. Another five years later, I get to charge the big bucks. Provided anyone is willing to pay the big bucks for real editing.

3. My kids are going to be the most awesome kids by the time they're teenagers. None of this "pretending to be cool" crap. They're going to be happy with who they are and that will make them sooo cool.

4.  There still are the brave few out there who are proving to the up-and-coming generation that liking "nerdy" things is not only acceptable, it's awesome too. Who says cyborgs are lame? Who says anime is a waste of time? Who says time travel is unrealistic? The people who end up working minimum wage jobs their whole lives, that's who. The nerds be makin' the big bucks these days. Hopefully that will remain the case.

5. Help one kid? Awesome. Help three or four kids? Fine. Figure out how to manage thirty-five of them? No frickin' way.

Very important life lessons, as you can see.