May 2011

Maybe I have spring fever, maybe I’m burned out, maybe I’m just a mother that doesn’t really care about her kids. I’m done with school. I’m done with homework. I’m done with lost backpacks, missing uniforms, substandard homework and spelling words. I’m done with waking up early. I’m done paying tuition. I’m done with sports. I’m done with girls being mean to each other.

I am absolutely positively finished with school.

I realize that my week in New York didn’t leave me free of my kids, it left me free of my kid’s unending schoolwork and hideous days.

I’m worried that we’ve robbed them completely of childhood and instead we’re trying to get them to learn State Standards instead of giving them some good old fashioned common sense.

I spent the morning yesterday with a group from Katalyst and Intel, they were talking about the flipped classroom. They do homework during the day, and watch lectures on DVD at night. Although it’s probably better than the existing system I’m wondering why our kids have to work a longer day than we do.

School is from 8 to 3 and then they’re supposed to come home and work another two to three hours? When are they supposed to be kids? When are they supposed to apply their knowledge? When are they supposed to have a childhood?

I hate school. I hate them all because they’re set up to feed themselves, they exist to benefit adults, not children. I’m ready to sell the house, pull them out of school and hitch hike around the globe with them. Maybe then we can all learn something and actually enjoy our lives.