Saturday Morning and talking pre-teen...

Saturday morning is one of my faves...I get to sleep in, work out, hang with the dogs and listen to This American Life with Ira Glass on National Public Radio.

You gotta check out  this program. Ira...the host is amazing and this story is fascinating. I learned today that middle school is where you excel at whatever you really like. According to one of the experts interviewed, at about the age of 12 you are well equipped at retaining information.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/
For example...if you decide you want to play the ukelele, this would be the perfect time to take it up (fine tune your skill). The expert talked about how she could still remember the dance steps to some routine she learned in middle school. Come to think about it...I can too. "Brass Monkey-that funky Monkey", well-I remember how it begins. I bet my BFF back home could do the entire dance.

Another segment close to the end of the show is about a middle school boy who had out bursts of anger when his fellow classmates would make fun of him. He smelled...kinda badly and the kids didn't like it-so they told him, and  they didn't like his reaction. Come to find out he didn't have electric. The roof on his home had caved in the week prior and he was also taking care of his ailing grandmother who would wake up in the middle of the night...walk around and then this little boy would carry her back to bed. Unbelievably sad and yes I cried, but the reason for his odor wasn't because he could help it...he didn't have warm water or the time to take a shower. After the kids found out his story they started talking him through his anger helping him to work through it. How extraordinary! What a teacher! She discussed the problem with him and then coordinated a meeting with other students. She also helped him clean up-something my BFF I mentioned above did for one of her own students. Awesome! I don't want to spoil it for ya so just take a listen...it won't be available until Monday...
http://feeds.thisamericanlife.org/talpodcast