“My youngest child had a potty emergency yesterday and so I found myself in a girls’ restroom in the back of my daughter’s middle school. As I was washing my hands, I noticed these pink post-its on the mirror over the sink:
‘Hey, Happy Monday! You are so pretty and cute. Maybe today is a bad day, maybe this beginning of the year is not goin’ too well. I just want to say you are loved + special and I’m prayin’ 4 you. I put this note here for 6 grade girls especially! Maybe your friends aren’t being fiends and you feel sad and in pain put a smile on and branch out! Talk to someone and share your concerns. YOU R AWESOME (I know 4 a fact) and I value you. Keep killin’ it and be happy. — a 8th grade girls who cares 4 you.’
Wow. I was simply blown away.
Because I know that middle school is HARD for any number of reasons: hormones, insecurity, wanting to fit in, friendship changes, body changes, academic pressure, wanting to be independent yet still needing help and then resenting the help, and on and on and on. Friends become so important, but friends can be unreliable because everyone is trying to figure out where they belong and who they are. Because middle schoolers are growing and growth is often hard and often painful.
So, what a gift to see this unexpected affirmation in the bathroom under the stairs between math and science.
To the anonymous eighth grader who took a few moments to write these wise words, thank you for your empathy and wisdom, for wanting to lift a classmate up by offering kindness and encouragement. You never know who you might help, console, or inspire. Yesterday afternoon, it was this 46-year-old mother of three.”
Credit: Ellen Goldberg
