School days...school days.....

School is back in session for most of our kids...and the stress level that goes along with it has returned.  Even though summer time had most of us chomping at the bit for our kids to get the hell back to school because they were driving us CRAZY and eating us out of house and home...

Now we have to deal with bus delays, car rider lines, school excuse notes (because the good old days of just being able to call the school and let them know your child was sick are over), forms, forms, and more forms.  Forms to try out for a sport, even if you don't make it. Forms to carry a tylenol in your pocket, forms for everything under the sun.  And when, like me, you work at a pediatrician's office...everyone needs their form RIGHT NOW. 

Packing lunches, buying school lunches, does your kid qualify for reduced price lunches?  If they do, it's so much cheaper for them to eat at school...but is it healthier?  Navigating all of the choices can be like trying to get gum off of the bottom of your shoe....Plus the making of the lunch itself...lunch boxes? Disposable lunch bags? The new craze "Bento Box Lunches"?  What's a mom to do? 

Then there are the fees....you'd expect all sorts of fees for private school...after all, that's what makes it private..doesn't it?  But no....we get PTA donation fees, fees for agendas, for lockers, PE uniforms, among others.  Make sure you keep that checkbook open for the myriad of extra stuff that comes along at open house and after the first day of school. 

And homework.  Wow.  Homework.  I don't understand how we lament the state of education in this country and children are taking classes that I never even thought of at the grade level they are.  2-3 hours a night, and we expect them to be well rounded and have time for extra-curricular activities.  By the time most kids get done with practice, homework, and supper, there is no time for anything else.  I'm a college educated mom, but some of the stuff these kids come home with boggles my mind.  I have to study, just to help them study! 

But at the end of the day, all we want to do is provide a good education, good foundation, and good support for our kids, so that they can learn as much as they can....so that eventually they can move the hell out of the house, be gainfully employed in whatever field they desire (within reason...my daughter can be a cosmetologist all she wants after she's done with law school), and be around to support us in our old age......

Comments

  1. Studs of CraigslistSeptember 4, 2011 at 12:58 PM

    "Navigating all of the choices can be like trying to get gum off of the bottom of your shoe."

    Great analogy : D

    ReplyDelete

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