Elsewhere
June 28, 2011
I wrote last week about Teenagers and Curfews over at AlphaMom.
Who knew there was a secret club to which all parents will all one day belong, the Curfew Police. It is not nearly as fun as it sounds. And since it doesn’t sound that fun to begin with, well you can only guess the good times that go on.
And I don’t think I ever linked to this post about Report Cards for Mom. What do you think of the Florida legislature’s idea to grade parents based on their interactions with the school and how prepared their child is every day? How do you think you would rate? I think I would get a solid D.
Posted by Chris @ 8:45 am
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I probably would have rated ok but that isn’t the point. There is no emphasis on the child being responsible. But then again everything that the child does counts so much towards grades, placements the following year etc that there isn’t time/room to learn from ones mistakes without taking a big hit.
June 28th, 2011 at 8:49 amwhen it comes to homework, my responsibility is to make sure my kids do it. I will check it. I will offer assistance when needed. But when my daughter continuously waited until the last minute and starting blaming me for her late start with projects, I said enough is enough. I will buy the necessary supplies, but I no longer help with the typing (she could not type to save her life), nor would I help with searching for books or websites. I admit I should let them fail, however, since I am paying tuition, I refuse to accept a failing grade. I annoy them to the point they get it done. She’s been holding her on with minimal effort from me. She’s her worst critic. She hates any grade below a certain number. I’m now just the supply guy. As for my 9-year-old, he needs to be pushed. When I noticed his grades were slipping, I contacted his teacher and we discussed what HE was responsible for. I admit that I helped more than I should have when it came to his writing - he’s not imaginative. I had to push him a little to get him to think. He wanted to get things done quickly to move onto other things. He is NOT allowed to read quietly for assignments. He is to read ALOUD to me so that I know he is not skimming. I ask questions along the way to make sure he understands what he is reading. He is going to the fourth grade in September. I make sure that he has what he needs, but he has to do the work. My kids school has made it mandatory that the kids do their projects on school grounds. No more unnecessary parental involvement. If parents let go just a little, our kids will surprise us.
June 28th, 2011 at 11:21 pmThat Report Card thing is B.S.!!! How about holding people responsible for their own things? Why does everything get piled on mom (because we know that people never blame dads!)? How are we teaching our children responsibility when we blame the parents for forgetting homework or a pencil or whatever? This just infuriates me!
June 29th, 2011 at 11:36 amIf *I* were grading you, it would be an A+. Sadly, if it’s someone else grading us, I’d be getting a D right along with you.
June 30th, 2011 at 10:48 amThat curfew article nails it perfectly, thanks so much for writing it.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:54 pmCurfew idea. Set an alarm for the agreed curfew time but place the alarm outside YOUR bedroom door. They either get home in time to turn off the alarm or it will go off and alert you.
July 1st, 2011 at 2:32 amoh you know me i am a mean mom now that it is summer curfews go like this sun - thursday 9:30pm fri and sat 10pm
July 1st, 2011 at 7:58 pmand if you r late then you are grounded the next day no questions. Now there are times that this can be changed but it has to be a very good reason and it needs to be planned as i don’t want that call at 9:59 saying can i stay longer. This is for the man-child the young lady of the house is still at home most nights or she goes to sleep overs so curfew has not been an issue but high school starts for her in the fall so i am getting prepared.