You know what I think about parenting?
I think it’s hard. Every day. In ways no one can predict.
Oddly, I want no other life. I’ve had a rotating lost of things I’ve wanted to be in life, but the one *thing* that has always been on my list has been… MOM.
Who’s livin’ the dream >>>> THIS GIRL.
Being a new mom was hard. That whole thing about babies and toddlers not being able to talk things out (and such) was tough.
It was a hard lesson for me to accept that babies and toddlers were completely, utterly, and hopelessly unreasonable…
But I have to say parenting older children has been loaded with its own surprises. And we’ve not even officially hit the boyfriend/girlfriend stuff yet.
But we do have a teen with a drivers permit, so we’re close.
Heaven help us all.
When I was a mom of littles I had this idea that once children had acquired the ability to speak, to tie shoes… and the like, life would be smooth sailing.
Stop laughing.
My hope then, however misguided and naive…. hope got me through. Sleepless night after sleepless night after sleepless night.
After. Sleepless. Night.
Then preschool hit. I thought the drama of preschool friendship was as dramatic as it would get.
Funny how face-biting seems so benign now.
I also thought that once the children learned their alphabet and fell squarely in the “literate” department… school would be eeeeasy.
AND THEN THERE WERE GROUP PROJECTS.
I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD JUST KEEP CAPS LOCK ENGAGED FOR THE REST OF THIS POST.
IF YOU ARE ONE WHO READS BETWEEN THE LINES THEN YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ THAT MY CAPS LOCK HERE MEANS THAT AS A PARENT… I HATE GROUP PROJECTS.
I HATE THEM.
Just as Sam did not like green eggs and ham… I do not like SCHOOL GROUP PROJECTS THAT REQUIRE OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL GROUP WORK TIME.
I do not like them in a house. Or with a fox. Or a box.
Especially if they are about a mouse.
I do not like last-minute panicked runs to the store at 10 at night, nor un-returned calls and texts from partners who bear no responsibility.
I do not like that in my experience so far teachers do not share such great and noble goals with the parents who must drive and fund and force their child to finish a *group* project – ALONE.
Or with only 3 of the 4 students in the group.
I do not like green eggs and ham/SCHOOL GROUP PROJECTS THAT REQUIRE OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL COLLABORATION/ etc and whathaveyou.
What if one partner has a family willing to collaborate and work to find times to work together… and though the other partner is willing to do their part… they have a family that doesn’t support their need to participate?
Yeesh. Does the willing family absorb the work because they feel bad for the kid who has a family that doesn’t care if their child fails?
THE SYSTEM IS FLAWED.
My kid can learn just as much on her own thankyouverymuch.
Perhaps an argument can be made in the name of “when they get into the real world they will have to…”,
That’s not good enough for me. School is for education, it is not the job of school to create opportunities for the *real world* to be a jerk.
Our regular lives has *real life* that covered, thankyouverymuch. I send the children to school for reading, writing and ‘rithmetic.
Plus, the abolition of such things means: I will save money. And time.
The world doesn’t get more real that that – MIND YOUR MONEY AND YOUR TIME, JUNIOR.
I think the hope is in the idea of collaboration.
But c’mon.
I get it. Collaboration rocks. I have had wonderful professional collaborative experiences. I have had wonderful parenting collaborative moments with other moms… In my school days the awesome collaborations came from peers who had similar goals and work ethic. As an adult – those with similar goals and work ethic are still the people I target for collaboration.
These middle school kids being plopped together just because they were randomly assigned to the same class?
Ineffective.
Of course, if you’ve had only positive experiences, I assume you disagree. But I assure you your opinion would be different if you watched your child work hours alone. Time after time after time.
Collaboration OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL WITH VIRTUAL STRANGERS?
NOPE. Stop it, schools.
That’s why we have bars.
I kid. Ish.
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Speaking of parenting… I am up for Best Parenting Blog of Western Washington.
NOT BEST PARENT… to be clear.
What am I trying to say… I’m not asking for money. Just a vote.
Why?
You want the honest answer?
I want bragging rights.
You gotta respect a girl who’s honest, right?
And if this post about my HATRED OF SCHOOL GROUP PROJECTSÂ isn’t honest, then yeah
