Blogging about life in Minnesota, raising our six kids with Down syndrome while battling Breast Cancer.

Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor in the morning the devil says, "Oh shit! She's up!"

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Kids and Summer Thoughts

I think it should be mandatory for all students to attend summer school, regardless of disability or not, because it helps parents survive what has already become a very long summer! The kids have only been out of school for one month, but it was the slowest month on record.

When I was a kid my next door neighbor moved to Oregon where they had year round school. I love the idea! The kids go to school for 9 weeks, have 3 weeks off, then back to school for another 9 weeks. How awesome is that? There is no having to pull your kids out of school for a family vacation, because every season has time off. The kids get to enjoy all kinds of weather that way!

Lets do uniforms too. I'm tired of my kid wearing some really wacked out clothes to school because he can. Those reading this thinking, "My kid will NOT be allowed to dress that way!" clearly aren't "there" yet with their kids. The independance thing really bites. You have to let them wear something really stupid so that people will look at them like they're wearing something really stupid, so that they don't ever want to wear the really stupid outfit again! But school...I don't get it. Some of the things I see kids wear could be considered a weapon! (I have a certain spiked dog colar and matching bracelet in mind. Might even be owned by an 18 year old I gave birth to.) If we went to uniforms, from kindergarten on up, wouldn't that just make life for all of us, parents, teachers, and kids far easier? Rest assured, kids will find a way to personalize them a bit, but still be within the spectrum of "uniform". Besides, then it wouldn't be such a shock when the want to do something like join the service when their mother has had enough of them, and they of her.

Ha! Speaking of the military....a couple months ago my 18 year old said he was thinking about joining the military, and wanting to go talk to a recruiter. I hope I didn't sound overly excited when I said, "What day do you want to go? I'll drive you there." Well naturally he didn't want my help, and a few days later was talking to a Marine recruiter on his own. (I don't exactly think he's marine material, but then again it IS better than sitting on my or someone else's couch all day! ) LET my kid talk to a recruiter??? Yeah, well his dad and I met in the Army, and the military is a fantastic experience. Yeah there's a war, but better to serve now voluntarily and CHOOSE your job, then to have to be pulled in under draft conditions. Anyway, he decided the military "doesn't pay enough".

HUH????

Yeah, 'cuz you know it's like 4 bucks an hour. WELL HELLO!!!! I had to enlighten him a bit. Like, what about the fact they buy all your clothes, put a roof over your head, and keep you fed too! Not to mention you LEARN a trade while you're there! Free travel, meet new people....the whole package is probably equivelant to a $30,000 a year income, far more than I'm making as a sign language interpreter. But what do I know? I'm only the mom.

When I was a kid, we lived in the middle of nowhere, and we had one neighbor that I played with who moved away when I was 13. I don't ever remember being bored, though I'm sure my mom probably heard some complaints now and then. But kids today...what's up with them? They expect to be ENTERAINED all the time. How often do you see a park full of kids anymore? Instead parents are putting them in this class, or that class. Parents are PAYING for someone else to entertain their kids so they can get some time to themselves. How come when kids are left to their own devices now, it ends up being something they can be jailed for? Hey mom and dad....Go play with your kids! Or better yet, as a family go volunteer for the special olympics, where you'll see parents who've dedicated thier lives to helping thier child be the best they can be, WITHOUT paying someone else to do it!

Ok....guess I rambled enough today. Check back tomorrow, maybe I'll have a "real" topic.

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