The school year's almost half over...

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-30-2006
The school year's almost half over...
1378
Tue, 01-16-2007 - 7:47pm
Is your work status working for you wrt

Sabina

Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-08-2006
Fri, 01-19-2007 - 10:51pm

LOL! My 15 year old son mows the lawn. He's been doing it for about 2.5 years. In another year or two, his sister will take over, then two years later my step-daughter will have earned her turn.

We'll pay to have the snow removed from our driveway, though. Should i mention that it's done by a snow removal service ?

Carole

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-08-2006
Fri, 01-19-2007 - 10:57pm
Just wanted you to know that I saw your post.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-05-2000
Fri, 01-19-2007 - 11:13pm

It's true. Every year, Dylan gets a new teacher--2 this year as he will start a new school on Monday. We won't know who he (or she--don't even know the gender at this point) is until Monday morning. That teacher will be a stranger on Monday. By the end of next week, he/she won't be. Same for Dylan's afterschool staff at the new school. Although I do know the name of the director there because the director at Dylan's old school told me.

Chris

The truth may be out there but lies are in your head. Terry Pratchett

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2006
Fri, 01-19-2007 - 11:42pm
of course, but even then you still dont know what goes on when you are gone - but why would you need to know. when i leave my kids somewhere i dont need to know anything other than that they are going to be safe. i left my middle dd with her father one afternoon when she was probably about 4, when i got home she had gotten hold of a can of that pink stuff you use to fill in cracks in your house and had proceeded to pain our dog pink - she said she had always wanted a pink dog :) my mom used to be afraid to keep my kids, she thought i was some kind of a super mom who wanted everything done just so, it took some convincing to asssure that when the kids were with her her rules applied and whatever she wanted to do with them was fine - i trusted her.
Jennie
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2006
Fri, 01-19-2007 - 11:55pm

my responsibility to my childrens education is to enroll them in the school i feel will best serve their needs, to ensure that they are in school every day and to make sure they know what my expectations are. they know what the consequences are for not meeting those expectations. like i have said, my kids enjoy school and to date (i do have one yet to start school) the expectations they put on themselves with regards to school are exactly what i would hope for, one because she is a super overacheiver and one because she is very timid and would probably have a heartattack if she were to get in trouble at school for not having her homework done.

as to the 16 year old, while i know what classes she is taking and i have the class outline and meet with the teachers beyond that for most of her classes i could look at her homework all night long and i wouldnt know if it was right or wrong, something about calculus doesnt click with me and she is so far beyond where i ever was in spanish i couldnt understand the book or her papers if i tried. she does have a civics class and we have alot of discussions about what they do in there because she is very politically minded, she made me stand in the cold an rain during the last election so she could see john kerry in person. her other class this semester is band, i see her performances and concerts but beyond that i dont really care what they do in class every day.

the grades my kids get and the way in which they approach school is their responsibility. i cant make them like school or dislike school. like i have said this is really easy for me because i have two kids who do excell in school and who take their schooling and education as seriously if not more so than i do. will it work that way with my son, i dont know, if it doesnt something might have to change buti am never one to change what works.
Jennie

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2006
Sat, 01-20-2007 - 12:03am
a question for you - how do you teach responsibility without actually having the child be responsible? if i have to spend all night telling my child to do their homework or make them sit with me and do their homework at a certain time how is that teaching them to be responsible? i am not talking about not helping kids if they come to you for help or not knowing what is going on in their classes, at least to a certain extent, it becomes more difficult as they get older. i am very big on my kids being responsible for themselves andif i have to constantly check to make sure homework is being done then that is me taking over something that belongs to them. if my kids want to take their lunch then they know how to get into the kitchen and fix it before school and they know what time the bus comes. if they need something for school the next day they know to tell me right after school not at 10pm. it is just the way they have been raised and they have responded to it well. they are not perfect and they make mistakes, my middle dd forgot to take her folder to school with all of her homework in it on thursday, she faced the consequences and i really doubt she will make that mistake again. i could have rushed out and taken it to her but that would not have taught her about being responsible for herself.
Jennie
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2006
Sat, 01-20-2007 - 12:16am
even with household help there is still plenty of work to do on a daily basis. when i was growing up we had a house keeper every day and i still had chores to do. at this time we dont have household help and while my kids have certain things they are expected to do it is probably less than alot of other kids but i am okay with that and that is how i have chosen to raise them.
Jennie
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2006
Sat, 01-20-2007 - 12:21am
you have my permission to come and ask to fold my laundry anytime the urge strikes you :) and you would never be turned down - i hate folding and putting away laundry
Jennie
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-14-2006
Sat, 01-20-2007 - 5:31am
LOL!
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-14-2006
Sat, 01-20-2007 - 5:32am

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That is my favorite line of yours! We are in total agreement here.

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