No Wonder Our Kids are _________

Feel free to fill that in with whatever word you'd like. I was going to put "stupid", but I'm sure I would have offended someone, but the simple truth is, our kids are behind many of their peers around the world. We close schools according to forecasts now! We used to wait until it actually snowed before deciding whether or not to go to school. Even then, it usually had to be a few inches at least! oh lord... I'm one of those parents now... we used to have to walk uphill both ways to school when I was a kid. Anyway... kids have so many days off a year as it is and now they close at the drop of a hat because they are more worried about getting sued by some parent than making sure our kids get a proper education.

Ok, ok... sure there are those neighborhoods that don't have great roads, well this is 2011... you would think that wouldn't be so much of an issue anymore. It's all pretty pathetic if you ask me. My son had last Monday off for MLK Jr. day and that's fine, but then he had this past Monday off and while I like to think it was because of the birth of his mother, unfortunately it was because of some teacher "work day" again. I'm thinking, why couldn't they have used last Monday to do whatever it is they do on teacher work days, or I don't know, evenings or weekends? Perhaps I'm being unfair, but I also think it's unfair that schools just figure parents can take off all the same days their kids can. We are blessed in that we have the daycare close by who is usually open, but then there are those days when even they are closed and thankfully we have our Meme, but she's going to be setting sail for Myrtle Beach soon and then we'll just have to flip a coin to see who stays home.

I digress. My main point is that we are taking so many days off and cutting out so many things that we used to learn as children and it makes me sad. Now I hear they're wanting to eliminate cursive writing in schools? I know most adults who can barely write legibly. Isn't that a staple a child should be learning, handwriting? Granted, most of us morph into some variation of cursive once we get older, but still... little hands need all the practice they can get. We're so concerned with making sure our kids are these little geniuses and multitaskers that we're cutting basic good education, manners, and etiquette.

I'm so tired of seeing the way children behave around me. Sadly, I can't shield Noah from all the idiots in the world and I feel him slipping away each day. I tried getting him into Karate as a way to help him have more concentration and focus, but I sit there and watch the class rolling my eyes because this age group (5-6 year olds) are just all over the place and the instructor doesn't seem to have any control over them. Why am I wasting money and time sitting here I keep asking myself. Luckily, his tenure there will be over soon. Maybe I'll try something else, or maybe I'll start teaching him more on my own. Most of these parents don't seem to care that their children aren't trying or paying attention and distracting from the class. It's usually because they have another younger kid on their hip, they're doing work, or chatting amongst themselves. No wonder your kids are hellions.

I'm not saying I'm the perfect parent or have the perfect kid by any means, but I do think a lot of parents are starting to shirk their responsibilities a whole lot. Stop having so many kids if you can't even get the first one right. Answer them when they call you. Don't expect schools to teach them everything. Be a parent and stop trying to be their friend. It doesn't help any of us.

stepping off of soapbox

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