You Gotta Love 'Em!

The volleyball season is over for my middle schoolers. I enjoyed the time I spent with these 10 girls after school in the gym and on the short bus rides to away games. And over the past couple months, they have learned so much and truly improved. In fact, after losing our first three games, we ended up with a three-three record, beating two of the teams we had lost to previously. We ended our season on a high note, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to watch these little girls go from clueless to capable in a matter of weeks (and to think that I may have had some small part in it).

I am also finding the lack of volleyball in my life a welcome relief. You know, I already spend the majority of my day with pre-teens, and having to do so after school on top of that was really wearing on me. I love them, but that whole “too much of a good thing” saying really is true. It might not apply to chocolate or shoes, but it does apply to middle school girls.

And so, when we won our final game last week, I was not just cheering because my girls had done such an amazing job that day or because they'd had an overall successful season, but also because I knew that the following day I wouldn't have to go to volleyball practice after school! No more quick changing in the bathroom during H period, no more rounding up 10 rowdy girls, and no more Justin Bieber-inspired sing-a-thons on the bus rides to away games. We never went far, but any amount of time listening to that garbage is simply too long!

I really did have a great time coaching, though, and I have nothing but love in my heart for every single one of those 10 little girls. Yes, despite the whining and the complaining and the singing, I absolutely love them!

A lot of people who don't work closely with middle schoolers have no idea how anyone is capable of loving them so much! I've taken a couple classes with preservice teachers, and I can't tell you how often I have heard: “I would teach elementary or high school, but I don't want anything to do with middle school.” I absolutely understand that sentiment (although I wouldn't want anything to do with elementary-aged kids myself), and very few people would dispute the statement that middle school is the hardest age group to teach (or to coach, for that matter). And yes, there are a lot of negatives, not the least of which is puberty.

But there are so, so, so many reasons to love them. Here is just one example:

The day after our last game (a win, in case I've failed to mention that up to this point!), several of the players came into my room a little while before school started. I was just about to say, “Guys, you have to go to the Great Room if you are here before eight, remember?” (because you always have to repeat things 100 times with middle schoolers). But before I could scold them, they started screeching (because that's another thing they do): “Miss Eeeaaames! We have a present for you!”

“Oooh, how exciting!” I said, glad I hadn't scolded them for coming into my room too early. “But you have to close your eyes. Miss Eeeaaames, close 'em!” So I closed 'em (right after I rolled 'em), and when the girls told me it was ok to look, this is what I saw:




So yes, middle schoolers can be difficult, and dealing with them all day in class and then again after school has been quite the challenge for me for the past couple months. But despite the drawbacks to this age group, you can't help but love the kids that fall into it, simply because there are just no other kids who will love you back as much as they will.