Dear Teachers of my children,
I see the messages. They started off very personal and nice.
“Make sure little Johnny gets 1 reading, 1 writing, and 1 math assignment done today.”
“Please have little Johnny sign into Powerschool to complete the assignments he has.”
It has been several weeks and to prevent me from feeling less-than or attacked, you now send blanket, general messages that seem like you are sending them to all parents like,
Except, I know you aren’t sending this to all of the parents because I am POSITIVE I am the only parent failing at this and I feel awful for it. I do appreciate you trying to make me feel better with sending me an encouraging message during Teacher Appreciation Week when I didn’t even acknowledge it or have my kid complete all of his assignments that week.
You’ve probably noticed already, but just in case you haven’t, I’m done. I cannot keep up and I’m tapping out. I realize there are technically still a couple weeks left in the school year. I realize it is one of my main duties to help my children do well in school. I know how important it is. I also realize that you may or may not have supervisors who are monitoring your children’s progress or whatever during this time (which, if you do, that is utter bullshit, but I digress…)
My kids’ school district had absolutely no plan for at-home learning when they decided to keep kids home for the safety of everyone. The district has done a fantastic job coming up with a program and trying to monitor how we are all doing. They have stated the final grades will be from Quarter 3 of the 19-20 school year, so my kids will all advance still – Thank Goodness. The fact that my kids cannot complete the little that is being expected of them is not the district or the teacher’s fault. It is solely mine.
I’m not saying this is acceptable at all. If you know me in any way, shape, or form, you probably find it hard to believe that I am letting my children’s school work go undone. I am typically very involved in their school work and their school lives. I volunteer at their schools and we used to have mandatory homework time when I got home from work every single day until their homework was done. If they had no homework, they read a book for at least 30 minutes while the others studied. I was never the best at looking for papers in folders, signing and returning things, keeping track of library books all of the time, and I definitely cannot keep one of those stupid plants they give us at the end of the year alive for a whole summer, but Damn It, my kids did their work, got good grades, and are smart as hell.
I can’t pinpoint a single reason this isn’t working for us, but I have thought of several reasons. The main reason being:
NO ONE WAS MADE FOR ALL OF THIS.
It takes a village to raise a child. I have always preached this and I wholeheartedly am in Love with the village me and my boys are blessed with. Their schools, teachers, and staff are a HUGE part of our village. A part I have always tried to let know I appreciate and are wonderful. I realize teachers and school staff not only have to teach kids knowledge, but also have to help them manage emotions, social interactions, and all of the things with over 25 kids in a classroom every day.
WHY THEN CAN I NOT DO IT FOR MY THREE CHILDREN?!?!
I don’t have an answer. I work full time, right now from home. We are lucky enough to have been able to borrow a computer from my parents, so we have one computer for my three children to use for schoolwork. If I work 9-5, Monday through Friday and two of my children need me to sit with them or help them with their school work while they do it, when the hell are we supposed to do anything else? On top of the time it would take, my kids don’t want to do it. So, I am left fighting with all THREE of my children trying to force them to do their work. I also have to:
Feed my kids breakfast every day.
Feed my kids lunch every day.
Feed my kids dinner every day.
Make sure my kids get outside on nice days (and don’t die) or exercise somehow inside if the weather is not nice.
Make sure my kids have time to relax.
Make sure my kids get enough rest by going to bed at a reasonable hour.
Make sure my kids get time with me to play, cuddle, watch movies, or whatever else they want to do with me for quality time.
Keep my house clean.
Make sure the trash goes out every Tuesday night and the recycling every other Tuesday night (and remember which one is “the other”).
Make meal plan and go grocery shopping.
Make sure my teenager gets out of bed before 6:00 pm
Make sure my kids don’t get too much screen time because if they do, they go nuts.
Make sure my kids are not eating all of the sugar they can find in the house.
Make sure my kids are having fun, but not the “they might could die” kind of fun.
Anyways, teacher….
It’s been good,
It’s been fun,
But it sure hasn’t been good fun.
I’m sorry and I wish I could be better, but I can’t and I’m tapping out.
(Please don’t hate me.)
See you in the fall (with a dead plant) 🙂
~Love & Light, Sarah
P.S. MAKE GOOD CHOICES
Adventures of Life, Death, Love & Light 