New Beginnings and New Phases

Today was Helmut’s first official day as a Shell Employee. He spent the whole day in orientation, or as they call it, “Onboarding (not sure if that is even a real word).” His description of the meeting sounded very similar to a high school pep rally…it’s so great to work here, we pay so much, and we have so many benefits, rah, rah, rah! I will let you know if they live up to all the hoopla. He did come home with a free coffee mug, so it is looking promising. I was impressed to find out that anytime he goes on a business trip that lasts more than four days, he is given an extra daily monetary compensation on top of his per diam. This is meant to make up for the hardship placed on his family during his prolonged absence. I have affectionately nicknamed this compensation my “Thanks for taking such good care of the house and children while I was gone jewelry and clothing fund.”

Helmut is now in his third week of Middle School, and it shows. It seems as if overnight he has turned into all the geeky preteen boys that drove me crazy in Middle School. He says weird stuff and acts strange a good majority of the time. I am biting my tongue and trying to be a loving and understanding Mother, yet at the same time keep him from making a complete fool of himself. The last few days have been particularly hard for him. He was so upset when he found out that Steve Irwin died on Monday. He really looked up to him as a fellow lover of reptiles and such. He even has an adorable fan letter he wrote a couple weeks back all ready to go with the address on the envelope just waiting for postage. Today he came home from school and burst into tears as he told me of the passing of his 5th grade teacher Mr. Dobbs. Mr. Dobbs was forced to leave school in the middle of last year when he found out his cancer had come out of remission. Little Helmut was incensed that the other kids at school didn’t seem to care at all. I assured him that they probably just didn’t want to cry at school. I am sure his preteen hormones and the fact that we are moving any day now don’t help his emotional stability. Poor guy.

We did get the Letters of Acceptance from the American School of The Hague today. The boys had to fill out a “New Middle School Student” form complete with their personal email address and all the likes and dislikes. I had an interesting conversation with Little Helmut as he filled out his. It went something like this…

Helmut: Hum…my likes…Can I right down girls?
Mom: WHAT?!?
Helmut: Okay, how about cheerleaders?
Mom: I don’t think so, you are only eleven…

I felt sick to my stomach. I KNOW I am not ready for this!