Met a mom last week with 3 kids under 3

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Met a mom last week with 3 kids under 3
1350
Sat, 03-25-2006 - 9:59am

A 2 year old and 17 month old twins. First she accomplished *that* through two surrogates! Wonderful what modern medicine can do.
Anyway, she doesnt work full time, she consults to several companies so is out of the home one full day then a few hours a day on other days. Sometimes for work, sometimes to go to the gym, etc.
She has a full time live in nanny, and two part time nannies. Essentially they always have someone with them and the kids. She feels she needs two to properly care for her three.
I immediately thought of all the comments her lifestyle would elicit from this board.
The day she and I met she had just come from a 2 hour session at the gym, and was then heading off to go do some shopping.
BTW, she's a complete rock star in industry, having 'retired' a year ago after a 30 year career that took her right up to the top of corporate America so she's definetly *earned* her right to do whatever the heck she wants.
But anyway, she feels she is a super hands on mom. I was curious what others would think?

MM

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Registered: 06-27-1998
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 11:22am

Great post.

PumpkinAngel

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Registered: 11-12-2003
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 11:27am
LOL... I was a band geek, and participated in the Academic Decathlon... what does that tell you? ;)
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-12-2003
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 11:28am
I'm still not getting why we are all supposedly jealous just because we disagree... hmmmm. (And I know we haven't been on the same side of this debate, but honestly, this is all in fun, not personal!)
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-12-2003
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 11:29am
I don't think smoking pot = worst evil ever. I'd prefer if my kids never do it, but I certainly don't think it's a "gateway drug" like some people try to purport. (Is that a word?)
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Registered: 06-27-1998
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 11:30am

.....and those area a

PumpkinAngel

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Registered: 06-27-1998
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 11:35am

The teach Latin in your district in the

PumpkinAngel

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Registered: 11-12-2003
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 11:36am
This is why I was so confused that we were debating in the context of homeschooling. I was debating because the stance was that parents should make sure their children don't come into contact with bad influences. If a parent is doing that, regardless of how their children are schooled, I believe it's a bad idea. I don't think anyone has said that homeschooling = extreme isolation.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 11:55am

Maybe it is a Midwest thing, but Latin isn't big here. Only at the more conservative private academies can you find Latin (and maybe one or two of the public districts.) Most of our suburban school districts do offer either Chinese or Japanese "instead" of Latin. Our school district offers German, French, Spanish, and Chinese. Chinese is taught by native speakers which is pretty cool. So if you are trying to say I live in an inadequate school system because I couldn't find a Latin tutor through school, I assure you I do not. Latin is not a big priority here as it may be on the East coast.

As far as chess goes, you can use the school district's program to play chess and meet teachers but if you want a master chess teacher, and you want the very best, you go outside of the school district. The school district can't afford the more elite chess masters, nor should they pay too much because that makes the afterschool program unaffordable for most. Perhaps using the connections of the school district is a good way to find a great chess teacher but I was disputing that the best were employed by the school district. Our afterschool chess program isn't even run by the school, actually.

And I'm not saying you can't find resources and mentors from school, not at all. I just think it is naive to think that the "best" are there working at school, especially at the elementary level. If I were to look for a mentor for my child, I would look at the schools but I wouldn't necessarily think that the people found at school were going to be the best. I definitely would look at the local university to find teachers, mentors and tutors. So maybe when she wrote schools and I saw "local public elementary school," other people saw "local schools including private schools and universities and such."

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Registered: 11-12-2003
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 11:57am
Past that, it's totally wrong to think that just by nature of not being employed by a school, someone is inferior. Makes no sense.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2006
Wed, 03-29-2006 - 12:06pm
so what is the difference between your childs 6 hours a week preschool and my childs 21 hour a week preschool - other than the hours of operation? do i see alot of difference in a classroom with alot of parent volunteers and one without that? not at all. last year in kindergarten my daughter was in a class that had very little parent involvement, this year her 1st grade class has parent involvement on almost a daily basis, sometimes several different parents a day - i see no difference in how the classroom is run. can you explain what you mean by programming? i know our preschool has certain things they do at certain times, but im not sure that is what you mean by programming. i would consider a preschool that had no schedule to be a daycare.
once again, what is the difference between 6 hours of optional and 21 hours of optional, and i guess more importantly what is the difference between 21 hours of optional and 21 hours of necessary
Jennie

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