14 Reasons Why I’ll Miss Elementary School

The first quarter of the new school year just recently wrapped up and I once again find myself thinking about the past. The outset of each school year typically invokes some level of retrospect and contemplation of transition, yet there are points along the journey which result in deeper analysis.

At this point in my family life I look back with a melancholy joy. Two conflicting emotions dance in my head. There is happiness in what has been, yet sadness in what was left behind.

My youngest daughter moved from elementary school to middle school this year. While this may seem like a simple step, it really isn’t. If you’ve experienced your youngest child moving from grade school to middle school, you undoubtedly can relate. It marks a transition point for families. Your last child finally steps across that milestone which you know will never be crossed again.

As I look back at the experience that was elementary school, I find myself thinking about all of those things that I’ll miss as a parent.

1. The pure innocence of the time (this is my favorite – Tweet it!)

This is the biggest thing I’ll miss. Kids were just kids. They didn’t care about much. They showed up at school, did work, and genuinely had fun. Peer pressure, bullying, body image, drugs, alcohol, and other items that pop up in middle school are the furthest thing from most kids’ minds. They just want to count the minutes until they can burst through the doors and lose their mind at recess. Pure innocence, pure magic.

2. Surprising my daughter for lunch (this is my favorite – Tweet it!)

There is probably a short list of things that are more enjoyable than surprising your kid at school. Waiting anxiously in the hallway for her class to come down in line to the lunchroom, only to be met by wide eyes and a shout of “daddy!” Then sitting awkwardly in chairs made for humans half your size, hearing about what’s going on at the school, while all of her friends stare at you like you are from another world. It’s pure bliss.

3. Hearing stories about recess (this is my favorite…Tweet it!)

Where else can you hear first hand accounts of the unbound imagination of kids than listening to what happened at recess? Obviously there’s no recess in middle school and even if there was everyone would be too cool to do anything remarkable. In grade school, all bets are off and you are only limited by the physical confines of the playground.

4. Kids dressing up for Halloween (this is my favorite…Tweet it!)

Halloween was one of those holidays that held something extra special when the kids were in elementary school. There was pride and anticipation in revealing your costume to your friends at school. No such thing happens in middle school. You’re lucky to see a pair of cat ears.

5. Attending “special” days at school (this is my favorite…Tweet it!)

This could be a field day outside, movie night, or some other activity where the community and school sit around and just have a good time. Once you get to middle school, the idea of school events such as these seems to disappear.

6. Thanksgiving lunch (this is my favorite…Tweet it!)

Related to #2 above, there’s a special feeling sitting down to the pageantry that is Thanksgiving lunch in grade school. Sure the food leaves a little to be desired, but the experience is priceless. There were times where both daughters were in the same school and I had to pull a back-to-back lunch. Gastrointestinally challenging, but I survived.

7. The utter disregard for fashion (this is my favorite…Tweet it!)

Walking into an elementary school you’re bound to find kids wearing the full gamut of clothes. For every kid that takes pride in their appearance, there are 10 that don’t. Pajamas, mismatched socks, holes, and random unknown stains are standard accessories. It is somewhat refreshing though to see kids simply worried about the events of the day rather than how they look to others.

8. Doing Valentine’s cards for classmates (this is my favorite…Tweet it!)

This is another item that dies as soon as your kid leaves grade school. Throughout their early school years, we had fun attaching Valentine’s candies to cheap cards, while I made sure the “Be Mine” pieces fell to the side. Hey, I’m a Dad. It’s what I’m supposed to do with daughters.

9. Building leprechaun traps for St. Patrick’s Day (this is my favorite…Tweet it!) 

This is similar to the last item. Most holidays are celebrated wildly in elementary school and largely dismissed in middle school. Sure the kids may dress in green, but there are no elaborately engineered traps constructed and gently carried to school. Ours were always engineering masterpieces…and worked! Take pride in your work people!

10. Taking treats for birthdays (this is my favorite…Tweet it!)

Unfortunately birthdays don’t carry the universal celebration clout in middle school like they do in grade school. You might get your locker decorated, but the days of the class (and the whole day) revolving around your special day are over.

11. Celebrating lost teeth (this is my favorite…Tweet it!)

Of course this is somewhat pigeon holed into the grade school era as that is the time when most teeth fall out. But, I’ll go out on a limb here and offer that the celebration just wouldn’t be the same in middle school.

12. Attending plays, band concerts, chorus concerts, etc (this is my favorite…Tweet it!)

While the quality of the music may not have been the best; the quality of the moment was unmatched. Crowding into a gymnasium to listen to random squeaks during a band concert, or watching kids slowly and quietly recite lines in a play in a monotone drawl never got old. Or watching a group of kids performing and waiting for that one kid to start dancing because they have to pee, or pick their nose, or just be a damn kid. Good stuff.

13. Field trips (this is my favorite…Tweet it!)

Sure they may have field trips in middle school or even high school, but the thing I really miss here are the times where I’d plan a covert operation to surprise them on the field trip. I’d have to play unaware/uninterested leading up to the day of the trip only to be quietly plotting in my head my grand arrival the whole time. Surprising them and then spending the afternoon with them was the cherry on top. Meeting your kid on a middle school field trip would probably result in embarrassment and a kid disowning you – in public.

14. Established and deep friendships (this is my favorite…Tweet it!)

Both of my daughters were in a unique situation where they attended the school where my wife taught. This was outside of the feeder system for the middle school they would ultimately attend, so they ended up going separate ways from their friends. This added a difficult dimensions to our transition. Even if you aren’t in the same situation, kids feeding the same middle school sometimes start to drift apart and form their little cliques. It’s important to try and maintain contact with those friends that were there from the beginning.

Those are 14 reasons why I’m truly going to miss my experience as a parent of elementary school children. As we continue to embark on the middle school journey with our youngest we slowly and reluctantly recognize the reality of our situation. The dynamic of school has changed. The unbridled innocence of grade school is gone. Middle school marks just another point in life where I reluctantly have to come to grips with the fact my babies are growing up.

What are you going to miss when your kids move onto middle school? If your kids have already made that transition, what do you find yourself thinking about? What would you add to the list?