Y is for....young once.

We were all young once upon a time.....do you ever see old pictures of yourself and wish you could go back and talk to that kid and tell them a few things about life?
Our kids go to the same schools that the hubs and I attended and graduated from.  The junior high is now a new school and located in a completely different place...but it's still owns all the goodies from way back when.  T showed me a picture he snapped while at school....of a forgotten group of pictures shoved into the costume closet....7th and 8th grade Choir kids.  Lordy mercy.  I looked at the picture and I swear I could feel the high waisted Girbaud jeans, zits on my chin and awkward body language all over again.  Ugh. 7th grade.  Does anyone just love that year in school? 

So....um, yeah. E.Saville is pretty hip, huh?  I am almost definite that I am wearing a Z. Cavaricci hooded t shirt.  I don't think I was allowed to wear mascara at this point, probably just lipstick.  Which I applied about every 10 minutes.


I did meet some pretty fantastic friends that year, some that I still talk to on a regular basis...okay, 2 of those friends I still talk to on a regular basis.  The rest, eh.   I also ran into bullies, jerks, boys who are probably still losers, girls who were just plain mean...you know, the usual cast of characters.  But I did love Choir.  We had an all girls choir class and it was pretty much a gossip fest along with learning your songs and singing your scales. 
If I could go back in time though....and tell that goofy looking girl something it would be this:

• don't believe a lick of anything a boy tells you from age 12-18
• get out of your box!
• play a sport
• make true friends and keep the good ones from before
• steal recipe for Dorito salad from cafeteria...
• be confident! you're pretty cool...
• try harder to learn
• shut your mouth in class
• stay away from any boy that's a grade below you yet a year older...bad news.
• dance at dances
• smile big, embrace happiness
• don't follow the crowd....march in your own parade!
• peer pressure isn't just about drugs....it also can make you turn into a snob, a hypocrite, a slacker, a racist...the list goes on and on.
• go to church, go to youth groups! Don't turn away from the One who can always help you.
• Keep riding your bike and playing outside
• stick to the beliefs in your heart
• stay away from the Mean Girls.
• be proud of being tall....stand up straight
• wear your retainer!!
• enjoy your parents....
• be a kid a little longer.

What would you tell your teenage self?


Another A to Z challenge post....we're almost there.