If you are not a parent than you don't understand how the resumption of school can impact your own life. You don't have to worry about school clothes, picture day, homework, science fairs, classroom size, extra-curricular events, PTA and a thousand other things fall down upon your head.
Don't get me wrong, I am a huge proponent of education. Every day I tell my children that there are few things in life that are as important as learning. It is a mantra that they will never forget.
But if I didn't tell you that I sometimes hate all that goes with it I would be lying. As much as I enjoy working with the kids and watching them learn, I also enjoy not having to worry about all of this crap.
I have three meetings this week that are all school related. Evenings are going to be packed full of nonsense. I am going to hear the same rules, same suggestions and same shpiel again. But I cannot skip it. I can't miss out because there are too many other things tied into them.
Can you say politics. I knew that you could.
To quote Dr. King, "I have a dream that one day no meeting will start late and that all of the information will be pertinent. I have a dream that the people running the meeting will not allow others to sidetrack us and that they will supply us with real coffee.
I have a dream....
What can I say, it is just a dream, for now. What I do know is that one of these days I'll try to put myself in a position of power just so that I can gain some more control over how some of these things go. I already volunteer, so I might as well jump in feet first.
Let the people start complaining that I can't run a meeting instead of me complaining that they can't. Except the thing is, I can run a meeting. I do it all the time.
That is all for now.
4 comments:
I'm not really in favor of the going back to 6th, 1st and 9th grades myself. That's what it feels like sometimes.
But I'd rather go to those meetings than homeschool. I'm not cut out to homeschool, no sirree. Love that quiet in the house when they've all gone off to their respective spots...
And what about the social scene at the all parent meetings? I enjoy some of the other parents. Some of them.
as someone who, as of today, has two kids in college...believe me, you will one day wonder what happened to those days when they needed you to buy the clothes, the supplies, and attend the meetings.
This is precisely why I homeschooled my daughter! In addition to being able to offer her the very best possible personalized education, I didn't have to deal with all the "infrastructure." I have no interest in PTA's or committees or fund-raising! (That's why my husband works so hard - to be able to support us so well).Nor do I wish to discuss curricula, field trips, extras, special clothing etc. etc. Believe me, homeschooling is Far Far less stressful than having to get kids up and off to school at the early morning. Once kids are 7 or 8, or so, you can have peace and quiet and personal time during the day while they do "their things." I find it sooooo sad when other parents tell me how glad they are that their children are back in school and out of their hair. They're sure missing out on some of the best moments in life!
Helene
i'm thrilled to have my kids my back in school. i avoid the meetings by daring to be PTA dropout and only signing my kids up for extracurriculars they're really passionate about. i refuse to book every spare minute of our time on organized activities because then we don't have opportunities to travel, do things as a family, hike, camp, or investigate other interests.
so my advice is dare to dissent! be the suburban parent who believes exercise doesn't have to be about team sports, who demands that the government fully fund the schools and not rely on parental fundraisers and volunteers, who considers learning outside the classroom to be as important as learning inside the classroom, and who gets out of the way and lets the teachers do the jobs they are trained to do.
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