clips and polish

Check the guys from tokio hotel. see nail polish? unusual hair?
Middle school students like to experiment. On themselves.
Office supplies as jewelry. Nail polish on boys. New hair colors. Black lip gloss. New kinds of outfits.
I say go for it. There are not a lot of adults who can go to work wearing paper clip earrings. Not many business men can wear purple nail polish to their meetings. American workers are not encouraged to have orange blue and green stripes in their hair. Generally shades of red and pink lip gloss are accepted, but only on the ladies.
Middle school is about the only time in our lives when we can test these things. It's all part of deciding who you are and who you want to become. Kids will let you know if your experiment is a success or a failure. Your teachers may have some input there, too. Yeah and parents might not like all the experiments either. trying on different clothes and accessories helps you decide what you actually like. It might be different from what everyone else likes right now. Each school has limits about exposed skin and "disruptive clothing that interferes with the learning process" but it's perfectly natural to want to try out other looks for yourself. If you can't dress the way you want to at school, then wait for nights and weekends. I don't want you to get suspended for disobeying the rules. Also, next time you see a kid wearing something unusual and interesting, let it go. He's just expressing his inner scientist or rock star or dancer.

really gross stuff

Which is the most disgusting thing you can experience in a classroom?
a. someone throws up
b. someone has a nose bleed
c. someone is picking his nose
d. someone is sniffing snot and refuses to use tissues
e. someone wipes his nose on his hand
f. someone coughs on your stuff
g. someone keeps sneezing right next to you
h. someone stuck gum under your desk and you touch it
i. someone picks scabs that bleed or ooze goo

All of the above are really gross. Equally gross to me. Actually the absolute grossest is when someone does any of the above things then touches your stuff. Picks up your pencil. Shares your book. Sits at your desk. Touches your computer. I'm getting the creeps just writing about it. So what can you do about this gross stuff? First, make sure you are not doing it. Any of it. That's right, we don't use sleeves in middle school. Go get tissues. Then use them. Then throw them in the trash. Then wash your hands. If your room doesn't have tissues then go to the bathroom and use toilet paper on your nose. Keep your gum away from the desks. Wrap it in a scrap of paper then throw it in the trash. don't leave your gum for other people. ever. Leave your scabs alone. Get a bandaid. Keep the scabs covered. your hands are dirty anyway and those scrapes won't heal when you touch them with your school-germ hands. If your stomach gets upset and you are going to throw up, take action. Get to the trash can. Get to the bathroom. Don't ask permission. Just get away from other kids and try your best to hit the can. Your teacher will understand. You won't get in trouble if you're sick.
Anyone who spends any time at school knows about all this gross stuff and more. Use good personal care. That means take care of yourself. Keep other people's germs out of your body. Try your best not to share your germs with other people. Use the bathroom sink at lunch time to wash your hands with soap before you touch your food.
If someone next to you seems to be trying to share germs tell them about the rules of self care.
Have a healthy, gross-free day!

smelling good or just smelly?

Yesterday we got really fresh and clean. Today let's think about the stuff you can put on after you're clean to smell and look even better... or not. Most children don't use any body products like lotion, deodorant, hair gels, body sprays and perfumes or colognes. Middle school has tons of kids who love to experiment with all these products and we know they sometimes try all of them on the same day. Wow. That's a lot of smelly stuff on one person.
Hey everyone, after your body is clean and dry use deodorant + antiperspirant under your arms. They both come in one thing. Lots of people like the stick that you just rub under there 2 or 3 times. Up/down. Up/down. That should cover it for one day. Of course there are also spray and gel deodorants, too. The deodorant part keeps us from getting stinky and the antiperspirant stops the sweaty pits. Now if you play hard, get really hot, and run a lot you're going to get sweaty and stinky no matter how much stuff is on your pits. That's where the soap and water come in again.
Body sprays smell good. For boys I'm thinking about Axe and Tag type sprays. Girls can get hundreds of good smelling sprays and some have tiny bits of glitter. This product goes on the skin near the neck or the front of your shirt. Hold it kind of far away from your skin so it's not really a blast but a gentle mist. Don't go spraying the entire body because the smell will be too strong. Your room should not have a cloud of body spray floating around when you're done.
News Flash!! Face lotion may be used by boys! There are gentle lotions that keep the skin on our faces fresh all day. They can stop pimples from popping out. They often include sun screen. They smell nice but not too pink, if you know what I mean. If you use face wash, and I'm talking to boys and girls here, there's probably a daily moisturizer to help control breakouts. Try it and see how your skin feels. Put the lotion on your finger tips then make little spots of it on your face. Use the finger tips to rub it over your whole face.
Wait. Before you go, check for globs and rub them away with the back of your hand or a tissue.
Smile and have a great day.

how to be fresh and clean for school

Clean feels good and smells good, too. Start with your skin. All of your skin. And use soap not just water. Some people use body wash which looks like shampoo but is for the skin. As you hit that wacky time of puberty, your skin will begin to change. In fact, your whole body will do strange and unusual things during these years. Don't worry. You can work with these changes when you know what to expect. Expect pimples and new hair where there wasn't any hair before. Oh, and those private areas will be changing, too. It's all part of moving from child to adult and it takes a long time.

Ok, now that your body is clean, work gently on your face. If your skin is beginning to get pimples, use an acne clearing face wash. Most of these products have a chemical called salicylic acid which slows the dead skin cells from clumping up and clogging pores. Start with the mild kind (not extra strength) to be sure you don't get a rash. If your skin feels really tight after using the face wash, it's probably too strong for you. It's also available in a small tube and you just put little dabs of it on any pimples you have.
Now up to the top of your body. Wash your hair to remove dirt and oil. Use shampoo not just water. Rinse out all the shampoo which takes the dirt off of your hair with it.

Check your finger nails for dirt and get rid of it. We don't carry dirt in our finger nails in middle school people. It may have been ok in elementary grades because of playgrounds and mud pies. No more nail mud for you. Hey, check your toes for dirt while you're at it.

On to the teeth. Do you have braces? Well it doesn't matter. Get your teeth clean every day. At least once a day brush each tooth carefully with toothpaste not just the ones in front. Learn how to floss between your teeth, too. If your toothbrush looks scruffy with bent and twisted bristles please get a new one which will do a much better job of cleaning. Think of trying to write with and unsharpened pencil. You can't brush with an unbrushy flat brush. One more thing, rinse your mouth and make sure you're not walking around with extra toothpaste on your face.

Have a great day and repeat the whole thing tomorrow and the next day and the next... I think you get the idea.
Stay clean while you're growing and changing.

make mornings easy

We really hate starting our days with stress! Stress can be caused by not having the stuff we need where it's supposed to be... picture your dad running around the house searching for his keys when he's in a hurry to go somewhere. That's unwanted stress. It causes yelling and sweating and sometimes bad words fly! Let's avoid it.

Here's Aunt Jen's checklist to make middle school mornings start off right.
Use the first part before bed so when you get up in the morning you won't be running around like a crazy person.

• completed homework (this isn't a joke. really. do your homework)


• text books


• pens and pencils


• signed parent papers (like tests and excuse blanks)


• library books


• house key


• calculator


• lunch or money to buy lunch

Put all this in your backpack and don't leave home without it. Keep your backpack in the same spot every night.

Use this part in the morning to be fresh and ready to learn.

• get your body clean


• use deodorant on the armpits (nobody wants to sit beside a stinker)


• put on clean clothes and boys, clean boxers and socks, please


• eat breakfast


• brush your teeth and don't forget to wipe your mouth so you're not dragging around extra toothpaste on your cheeks all day


• check your hair (maybe use that invention called a comb)


• give your parents a hug and get to school on time


• don't forget your backpack

Use these steps each day and soon your middle school mornings will be so smooth you'll feel like a grownup. but cuter.

Tomorrow let's talk more about being fresh and clean.