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Homework never ends for parents

Time Out

One of the things people without school-age kids might not realize is how much the homework requirements have changed- for the parents. When I was a kid, if there was an assignment that require adult assistance at home, parents would have sensibly said, "I had to do that stuff when I was in school. Now I'm done." and that would have been that.

However, between that time and now, some do-gooder parent got a wild pencil stuck in their sharpener and did something fancy like put their kindergartner's three sentence report on fish on a tri-fold board with glitter after driving them to four aquariums in three different states and then laminated everything. Just like that, the bar on homework was raised requiring parental involvement from everyone and now we all suffer. In my years with kids at school I have seen a life-size robot that could do actual math problems (this was a kindergarten project, by the way) and seen a science fair exhibit that explored the likelihood of the existence of worm holes in space (5th grade project, different kid than the robot one.)

This explains how I, someone who grew up with absolutely no idea how her relatives fell on the political spectrum (and still doesn't) and has never allowed a political sign of any nature to be stuck in her lawn, found myself being interviewed by my junior high student on my thoughts on the presidential candidates, it was part of his government class assignment. Students were to ask parents what experiences qualify each candidate to be President of the United States, why that experience is important and then give an example of someone else who had similar experience. Assignments like this are extra painful because you know your child is going to being judged by your responses. You don't want to be the dummy OR the smart ass of the group, but in the off-chance that this teacher might serve on the committee that doles out college scholarship recommendations someday, you don't want your child to be bland and forgettable either.

By the time the interview concluded, I had spent more time mulling my responses than I had deciding what to name the child querying me. Was I coming across as fair? Balanced? Since when did having an 8th grader in the house mean you had to be a political analyst?!

They say it takes a village to raise a child. So far, I've taught mine to walk, talk, use the bathroom, have basic manners, look both ways, say no to drugs, take a bite out of crime, and floss. I'm ready for someone else in the village to step in and help out regarding when it comes to these school assignments.

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AdviceMama Says:
Start by teaching him that it is safe to do so.