I'll be the first to admit that aesthetically, middle school was not my finest hour. Hopefully, you too have the wherewithal to admit that somewhere in between the braces, acne, and questionable hair accessories, you have seen better days as well. Middle school is typically stereotyped as three of the worst, most awkward years of your life, and for the most part, I agree with this stereotype. Middle school was, in a word, "silly."

But I can't say that everything about middles school was horrible. In fact, being a thirteen-year-old had a lot of untold perks to it. There were so many little delights that I could get away with back in the day, simply because I was basically a prepubescent nobody. Disregarding the braces, the mane of untamable hair, and the liberal use of ironic tee-shirts, there are a lot of really cool things middle schoolers can get away with that the public deems "unacceptable" or "inappropriate" as I got older.

1. I could eat whatever I wanted -

Frequently, I would get home from school at 3:30, and make myself two quesadillas to eat while I watched Disney channel. This was my afternoon snack, a precursor to the dinner I would eat five hours later. And you know what? I was starving for dinner by the time it came around, and I ate everything they gave me. Then, for dessert, I would make myself a peanut butter, marshmallow, and chocolate chip sandwich. Looking back, this behavior was insane, if I ate like this now, I'd be a whopping fifty pounds heavier than I am now.

2. Homework was a joke -

My English homework consisted of "write a Haiku about gym class," my math homework was to make a pie chart showing favorite flavors of jolly ranchers in my 15 person class, my history homework was to make a teepee out of popsicle sticks and glue. As I am surrounded by a world of lab reports, senior theses, and analytical essays, I feel like I really took for granted the level of demand placed on me in middle school. Once, my homework assignment was to make a taco cake for Cinco de Mayo.

3. Mom bought my clothes -

My mom was desperate to have me dress like a normal human being when I was twelve, but I outright refused to follow her example, because I was too busy "expressing myself" through Delia's graphic tees and light wash jeans. She would buy me appropriate clothes for a human to wear in normal society, and I would reject these outfits. Now, as I realize the benefits of dressing like a normal human, I kind of regret not accepting her help earlier on. Especially when I look back at photos of myself and see what I chose to wear.

4. Nickelodeon was in its prime -

Can we just take a moment and remember the beauty and hilarity of Nick during our tween years? Quality television, paired with the type of humor that got middle schoolers through the day made life worth living. "Drake and Josh," "Unfabulous," and "As Told by Ginger" (only when you were feeling angsty) were all instant classics that you and your friends could talk about for hours on the monkey bars. Plus, "Ned's Declassified Middle School Survival Guide" legit "got" you.

5. Sleepovers were fun, not gross -

Back in the day, sleepovers were fun, planned out events full of PG-13 movies, your newest pair of Ltd. Too pajamas, and gossip sessions about who slow danced with who at the Halloween dance ("Omg! Nick was actually touching Haley's hips!") In the morning, your friends mom would make you guys bacon, eggs, and pancakes, and everything was wonderful. Now when you sleep over at a friends house, it's because you were too tired/had too much wine to drive home. You end up crashing in your clothes on a couch, and somehow you lose a sock. In the morning, there is no food in the house, so you drink a cup of black coffee before driving home. You just feel kind of overall gross after this.

6. Instant Messaging -

Instant messaging was the greatest method of socializing for you between the 6th and 8th grade. Texting was great, but IM was so personal. Your screen name (xXxxFaLL_OuT_gIrLxXxx) expressed exactly who you were and your away message was the perfect FU to let your frenemies know what you were up to ("hanging @ mall w/ BFFs, if ur not w/ me leave a mssg!!! :p") Plus, in your information box you could put the initials of all your best friends, and leave vague references to all your inside jokes, so everyone you IM'd new how fun and silly you guys were. There was so much passive aggression involved in the IM world, and it's never been quite repeated in texting (but Facebook did get close with the "Top Friends" app).

7. Computer Games -

I could play Sims 2 for hours and hours and no one would ever question me. After all, I was a 12-year-old girl, I had nothing better to do. Sim days, human hours, were spent doing absolutely nothing in front of my dad's laptop screen, and it was perfectly awesome. When I wanted a break from living vicariously through my sim family, I would pop in one of my new Nancy Drew games, and terrify the living shit out of myself for a few hours. Now, if I try and play a computer game for more than an hour, I'm told I'm being childish, and "wasting my life."

So yes, while we are all in agreement that middle school was quite a rocky patch in our formative years, I think we can also agree that there was a silver lining to all the brace-faced awkwardness. True, most of this centered around selfish indulgence and laziness, but hey, you were just a kid, what did anyone expect?