1.) Your parents expect you to make your own breakfast/lunch/dinner
They probably assume that since you’ve gotten older, you’ve become more mature. This goes with making our own meals, but everyone knows that as middle schoolers we have no idea how to cook, and when our moms ask us to make lunch we either a.) buy lunch b.) microwave leftovers, or c.) throw a sandwich together because it seems fairly simple.
2.) You take medicine by yourself whenever you feel sick
As allergy season and all this cold weather makes its way into the year, I usually find myself waking up with a runny nose, running to the medicine cabinet and taking Allegra. I used to be sooo scared to do this, hearing terrible stories of people taking overdoses and taking the wrong medication and all that, then one morning I just knew from experience what and what not tot take.
3.) No one has to discipline you (much) anymore.
Either you don’t have to be disciplined or you’ve become so tall and big that your parents are scared of you. It’s almost like there’s a voice in the back of your mind telling you when you’re doing something wrong, therefore parents start to back off and let you take your own risks.
When you’re a little kid it seems terrifying to go to a restaurant or fast food place and order food by yourself. Most of the time you give your order to your parents and they tell the person behind the desk. One day, it’s all vice versa. The day I ordered food without freaking out was the day I thought that I could run this world. (but we all know that isn’t true)
5.) You do your homework without anyone telling you to do it.
The biggest indicator of being independent, there comes that one day where you actually start valuing school and education. Instead of your mom having to be on your tail to do homework, one magical year you decide to get right to it. Also, that day your parents will probably question if you are their son/daughter.
6.) You stop telling your parents every. single. thing.
While this may be good or bad, that day you don’t tell your parents about that upcoming math test or don’t tell them about this new friend you made kind of comes along with being a tween. Although you do tell your parents important things that are worth them knowing, small details don’t really seem that worthy enough to tell other people.
7.) Things don’t seem like a big deal.
When my first high honor roll came my parents were beaming with pride, literally everyone in this world knew within the next 5 minutes that Sneha Kandalgaonkar was in honor roll. When people asked me how I felt, I just went like, “Yeah man, it’s cool, right?” The high expectations of middle school make it really insignificant when something good happens, and almost impossible to bear when something bad happens. Or maybe we’re just becoming more sophisticated and less jumpy.
8.) You’ve read The Fault in Our Stars/ The Selection/Twilight.
YES, they are romance books. When my dad saw me reading the Selection, it was like “Why are you reading that garbage?” My mom thought that just because I was reading a romance book I was becoming all . . . weird. I’m not a fan of overly romantic and dramatic books, but some romance books are worth reading. Parents need to understand that before they start making awkward assumptions . . .
9.) #socialmedia
Now you want to be heard, so chances are you have an instagram or snapchat or even something as simple as an email account. You want to stay in touch with your friends, but the idea of a playdate seems like something a 7 year old would do.
10.) The wave of politeness.
Some people argue that when you become a tween, you develop a sense of rudeness. While this might be true at home, I think differently when you are at other places. Whether you hold the door for another person, help that kid with homework, or smile at that random baby in the stroller that’s looking at you, there are many ways where you start defining who YOU are as a person.