I am THAT parent.
The one the teachers
talk about over coffee in the morning.
The one they shake
their heads about and give knowing looks to each other.
The one they have
secret names for when I’m not around.
I didn’t plan to be
THAT parent. I’m not even sure how I got to this point. I just know that
somehow I had to take a stand. Maybe a quiet one, for now. Maybe a small one,
for now. But I know bigger ones are coming.
It started simple
enough. When the girl moved to the 3-year-old room, she began getting a ‘Friday
folder’. In the folder were two worksheets – one with her name three times and
the other was usually some sort of additional tracing sheet: letters, numbers,
shapes, etc. At first, these were new experiences so the girl was excited to
try them out. We’d get out special pencils and markers and ‘trace’ our name and
letters. Her fine motor control is off, so she never really stayed on the
lines, but she had fun. We’d send the papers back each week and the next Friday
there would be new papers. She felt like one of the big kids, so we kept going.
A few weeks ago, her
enthusiasm for her homework tasks began to decline. It started to involve a lot
of nagging on my part in order to get her to do the work. And when she did do
it, she didn’t enjoy it; she did it because I told her she had to complete the
sheet. A few weeks later, she was avoiding her folder altogether and waiting
until Monday morning to do her sheets before she went to daycare.
Finally, about four
weeks ago, she said, “Mommy, I don’t like doing homework,” that’s when I knew
something had to change.
She’s three.
Three. Years. Old.
She has a LOT of years
of homework ahead of her. More years of homework than I care to imagine. Homework
that I hope has been carefully considered before being assigned. Homework that
I hope is thought provoking and provides opportunities for conversations and
sharing. Homework that I hope is open-ended and short, rather than rote and
time consuming. Everything that the worksheets were not.
I rebelled. I started throwing
the sheets away.
Lately, our weekends have been spent digging weeds and worms
out of the backyard. We’ve been busy reading books and playing with stickers.
Her Lego houses have become more elaborate and detailed. There hasn’t been time
for worksheet practice.
I’m okay with that.
I’ll own being THAT
parent, if it means my kid gets to be a kid for a little while longer.
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