Teenagers....they're OK

Every now and then I look at Jill and think, "How did this happen?!" You know that page in I'll Love You Forever, by Robert Munsch where the boy turns into a teenager and wears weird clothes, listens to loud music and acts strange? That's my life! It's almost comical. Almost.

Having a teenager can be a little worrisome. They're more independent. They don't tell you everything. And did I mention they dress weird, always play loud music that they dance and sing to, and act strange?

Now and then though, I am comforted. This is one of those weeks.

Jill said to me yesterday, "By the way mom, tomorrow my class is watching a movie in Social Studies but I didn't bring the permission slip home so I'm not watching it."

Great! Another missing permission slip. In Grade 7 Jill forgot to bring home her options form for me to sign so they ended up putting her in whatever was left in Grade 8 - a real disappointment for sure.

Only this time the story is a little different. It turns out that they're watching a restricted movie and since Jill has decided she'll do the things the For the Strength of Youth booklet says, she decided she wasn't returning the permission slip because she wasn't going to watch the movie anyway.

Oh! Well, that's not so bad then. Wait a minute....that's good! She isn't afraid to do what she's supposed to do - even if everyone else isn't. I was proud of her.

We were left wit hthe task of finding a project for her to do. After about an hour of surfing LearnAB.ca and other websites I said, "Wait a minute, why are we figuring out what you should do? Shouldn't your teacher be coming up with an alternate project?"

Apparently not.

It would be nice if she could do something that helped her learn more about samurais (or whatever the point of the movie is) than all the kids that watch the movie. We haven't come up with anything really amazing though, so the hopes of that are rading a little. Time will tell I guess.

The question remains though, do I go talk to the teacher about this? I mean, seriously. There isn't another way they can learn about ancient Japan instead of watching "The Last Samurai"? Or do I just let her opt out and quietly stand as a witness of Christ?

Life was sure easier when she was five, would only wore dresses, and got in trouble for taking out Drackett on the playground because he was being mean to her best friend.

I'll keep her though.

One thing is for sure: life has never been dull with Jill around!