Well, this week, the kids went back to school here in Southern California. I wasn’t sure if I would be happy about this or not.
On the one hand, it would be nice to get them back on a routine (and out of the house for a bit), but on the other hand- dragging them out of bed in the morning and rushing to get them out the door is just never fun…
So this year, my oldest started Middle School- 6th grade! This is the year I hear it’s just awful where the kids start to get mean. In high school, they’re a little older and they learn that being mean just isn’t that fun. But middle school- these kids are ruthless!
My wife ended up taking them all to school- dropped off the 2 younger ones at 1st grade and 5th grade (big girl on campus!), and that was all really cute and fun. Then it was a short hike to the dreaded middle school campus!
All the peaches and rainbows were gone there… No parents, no excitement, no smiles. Just a whole lot of chaos. Confused, awkward kids running all different directions, a huge mob of them. Deanne had to ditch the stroller and just carry our little one because there was no room for her to get by with all the craziness.
She got separated from our 6th grader, then was able to catch up with her again. She then realized she really wasn’t welcome, said a quick goodbye, and walked back home. Her heart just sunk.
She watched our daughter roll her backpack away toward her first period class. Our big girl was growing up. Where did the time go?
Pretty soon she’ll be in high school, then college. It’s all happening so fast…
I couldn’t wait to get home that night and ask how things went. I found out the younger 2 kiddos did great, they loved their teachers, and they were totally excited. My oldest just looked funny. I could tell something was wrong.
She was confused, school wasn’t fun anymore. She had 6 classes, 6 different teachers- she couldn’t even remember what all of them looked like! And she had a stomach ache because of all the stress and overwhelm, and she was afraid she had an assignment due for science the next day but couldn’t remember what!
And one more thing she mentioned- she had so many books to carry for all her classes now, but “Thank goodness I have a backpack on wheels or my back would be killing me too!”
Ahhh- daddy’s little girl…
In all the worry and all the stress, she still appreciated her dad!
You see, in case you don’t know- it’s not all that cool in middle school to use one of these roller backpacks. And I remember growing up, it wasn’t even cool to wear a regular backpack on both shoulders!
Even though wearing it lopsided causes all sorts of problems and crooked spines- that’s just Back Pain Prevention 101!
Well, after rolling her eyes at the store when I forced her to get her backpack on wheels instead of her cool, trendy, flashy pack- she actually appreciated my advice now.
And I want you to know that if you are carrying any purse on your shoulder, you better make sure it’s a light one! And at the very least you should be carrying it with the strap over your head on one side, rather than just at your side and over that same side shoulder- placing it over the head will at least help to distribute the weight a little more evenly.
But if you have any kind of carrying case or bag, you should REALLY try to make the switch and get one on wheels. Here’s a pic of me with mine right now:
I love it! Sure, people ask me if I’m heading off to the airport to catch a plane, but it sure does save all that repetitive stress on my neck and shoulders…
So head out and make changes like this. You may even have been using a purse or carrying a bag for years and things are fine, but at some point things will give out. And you’ll wish you took preventive measures years ago. It’s just like exercising to stay healthy- don’t wait to start when you get the news that it’s too late! Start now and help yourself out 5, 10, even 50 years from now.
Take care, stay healthy, and keep making good choices!
See ya next time.
-Dr. V
