Why I Love 5th and 6th Graders

I just had a 6th grader come in at the end of first period to pet Berkeley. There were 5 minutes left in the class period. He said, "I set myself a goal to finish all of my homework in time so I could come and pet Berkeley."

He was the only one to do so. Sixth graders are focused. They can also be very serious about what they love. Take the daughter of one of our faculty members. She doesn't have a dog at home, so she considers Berkeley her dog. She really does. She came to see Berkeley the other morning and got to have to have Berkeley all to herself. I told her she was in charge because I had to help a high school student. You would have thought I had given her a pound of chocolate. When she left about five minutes later I got the tightest hug I think I have ever gotten.

Fifth graders, on the other hand, are cheeky. Where PreK through 4th take the rules so seriously, fifth graders have a sense of humor about them. When I run into them, they glance down at Berkeley and then quickly back up to me. They always have a gleam in their eyes that says, "I know she's supposed to be invisible, but I see her. I'll just pretend." It's the big smile that gives them away. I always smile back.

Football and the Queen

Her Royal Highness Berkeley has made it to two home football games. On the walk into the first game, we happened to pass by a lower division girl and her mom walking to the football field. I heard the mom ask her daughter, "Do you see the dog, honey?"

Then, in the saddest voice imaginable, the little girl said, while staring straight ahead, "Yes. She has her coat on. She's invisible. I can't see her or pet her."

I thought I might cry or laugh. I tried not to do either. We kept walking. I didn't make eye contact with the mom to see what she thought of that comment.



When we got to the football field it was still light and not too crowded. I was able to say hello to the kids I wanted to let know I had come to support them. Then we took HRH up onto the metal bleachers. The photo above shows her and Fred striking a pose. She did pretty well, even though they made a strange sound when she walked on them and they were a bit narrow and had a gap on either side. I think she will like them better when she is bigger.



We made the mistake of taking her for a pee break between the 1st and 2nd quarter. Every student who caught sight of her without her coat on rushed over for a quick pat. They all lined up nicely though and it was an orderly affair. We did eventually get her coat back on and took her out onto the field to watch the game from there.

The second time we took her it was Tailgate, which translated means EXTREMELY CROWDED and FILLED WITH EXCITED CHILDREN. HRH had a meltdown about 20 minutes into the game and we took her home. Sometimes it works and sometimes you take 'em home.

We still kicked butt and won the game.