Mending Fences

We live very close to the boys' school. In fact, all they have to do is hop the fence in the backyard and they are at school. They were so excited to go to Jr. High so they could hop the fence. They talked about it for months. The time finally came for Jr. High, and sure enough, they hopped the fence. J would often joke the he was sure to get hurt hopping the fence at least once.

I love that they can get to school so easily. It saves me hours in the car each week. They literally leave for school with two minutes to spare. Their friends come over after school just for a quick stop over, or to hang out. They sometimes wait here for their parents to pick them up because it's more comfortable than the school.

If you can imagine, when two or more kids are hopping a fence multiple times a day, it will bend over quite a bit. It was really nice, actually. It made it so easy to get over. I admit that on occasion I have been known to hop over to get to sporting events. (I feel really silly doing this, but hopefully others just think I'm young at heart.)

Fast forward one year and two months . . . their second year in Jr. High. Everything was going so great. The fence is their main pathway to and from school. One day in late September, G and J came into the house fuming mad. Someone had repaired the fence! They put a cross support beam through the middle and a support beam across the top. The fence is taller now, and much harder to climb.

This was mind boggling to us. Obviously the school fixed the fence, but was it really necessary? They didn't fix any other parts of the fence that goes for two or three houses, just our small 3 feet where we hop. Interesting?

It hasn't stopped the hopping. We aren't going to question it, just go about our regular business. And we know that the fence hopping will be a forever memory.