How to Mend a (6th Grader's) Broken Heart

Do you remember your first love and your first heartbreak?

Now, do you remember my fourth period class that I mentioned a couple of posts back?  (If not, please feel free to read about them here!)  True to form, they're coming in from lunch today, and since I was standing in the middle of the room (instead of my customary seated-at-my-desk-while-scarfing-down-the-last-of-my-lunch position), they began to swarm instead of line up at my desk.  Through the crowd that was beginning to form, I felt a pair of arms reaching around my waist.  I turned my head and saw that her eyes were red.  She's the kind of girl who has a permanent smile on her face.  She smiles when she talks.  And sure enough, as she looked up at me and asked, "Can I have a hug?", she was smiling.  And crying.  She squeezed me around my waist and tucked her head into my chest.  I rushed her outside into the hallway and asked what happened. 

"Simon* broke up with me for an eighth-grader!"  She was sobbing now.

(A little bit of background info on these two kiddos:  I am not at all an advocate of kids "dating" in the sixth grade, but with these two, you could see that whatever it was that they had, it was a little different.  And what I mean by different is honest and innocent.  She is a sweet, shy, and sensitive girl who has a serious talent for writing.  Simon, whom I also teach in my first period class, is a respectful, witty, very likeable, and smart kid.  Everyday before she goes to lunch, she comes to give me a hug.  And everyday, Simon waits outside of my door to walk with her to lunch.  Most sixth grade "relationships" last for a couple of weeks, but these two had been "dating" for about six months.)

So, anyway, this was not what I was expecting to be the problem.  I tried to console her as much as I could as she cried on me.  Even though she's always with a smile, I knew that I had to make her laugh.  I told her that I knew she was hurting...she should let herself cry to get it all out...tomorrow will be a new day...and by the time she gets to high school, there'll be so many more options that she'll be like, "Simon, who?"  (she giggled at that one).  It didn't take long for the tears to dry up, but I wanted her to have a good laugh to lift her spirits.  It wasn't until after class, though, that I pulled her to the side and said:

"You know, tomorrow morning when I see Simon, I'm gonna give him the stink eye."

That worked.

Not only did she smile and laugh, but she made me promise.  Twice! (sigh) 

*name has been changed to protect the stink-eyed

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Soo....about this maxi!

First off: This is NOT what I wore to school today.

Secondly, I l-o-v-e this dress. I feel like the island-born girl that I am but never got to be.   I got it online from The Limited for about $22!  Sadly, though, in the three years that I've had it, I've only worn it once.

BUT!

Thanks to Everybody, Everywear's April feature of the maxi, I have a reason to pull it out from the back of the closet!

        

 

By the way, if you're interested in going from wild and exotic to mundane and dull, please keep scrolling down to view my real OOTD.

        

Uh-huh, told ya.  Dull and mundane.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  ;)