Thursday, January 10, 2008

The Ghost of Homework Past

...or why I suck as a parent sometimes.

I'm beginning to think that I'm turning myself into a freakin' martyr. Nothing would displease me more. Thankfully it is the end of the week so this feeling that I just have to rip off the layers of my existence until it is only me and nothing or no-one else around me isn't as acute as if it were a Monday night, say.

Well, look at that 9:45 am tomorrow - appointment with "Dr. Roberts." Perhaps I should just print this and hand it to him. Then he'll nod and pull out his prescription pad and in a scene reminiscent of the Ralphie teacher essay grading fantasy in Christmas Story, write up my new scrip.

And all of this had nothing to do with homework. I'm thinking I'd better get to bed because I have a certain daughter to awaken in the am to see if a night's sleep will have awoken her creative juices. I go from putting Julian to bed and of course nodding off doing so to plopping across the table from the daughter who is sullenly doing anything but her homework assignment (we won't talk about the spilled toothpicks or the two hours squandered when she got home). I'm sorry, sometimes I don't have it in me to inspire or offer beginnings or spoon feed how to approach an assignment.

Sometimes you just have to come up with it on your own, kid. Hey, maybe I don't suck at this parenting thing after all.

Don't I feel better now. Maybe ever so slightly. Good night.

15 comments:

Tom & Icy said...

Anticipation is a strain on your patience.

Doug The Una said...

Failure is a value-priced education at Tali's age and a luxury at ours.

Kyahgirl said...

hmmm, we had homework blowouts last night at my house too. Must be something in the air.

If you asked my son,he would probably tell you I'm a failure as a homework guru. He refuses to believe me that there is only one way to add up double digit numbers and it doesn't include the use of a calculator! Along with the 'walking 10 miles to school in a blizzard' stories I also tell him I didn't have a calculator until grade 11. He thinks its an urban legend. :-)

chin up G...this too shall pass.

tsduff said...

Having youngster (and being one, I might add) today is so much more stressful than when mine were that age... (um, that was a long time ago)

TGIF though, right?

Nessa said...

One of my favorite fantasies is running away somewhere all alone. I don't even want someone to wait on me or take care of me. I'd just like not to have to do it for someone else every once in awhile.

Anonymous said...

Be glad, be very glad that Tali is going to private school

I don't even have a kid and have to give up social engagements to help with research

Had I known I was going to spend much of my life helping with the education and life skills of others I just might have had one

Spent 3 hours in line to get tickets to Ellis Island--not to go--just to get the tickets

Told her we were experiencing a thousandth of the discomfort people who came through Ellis Island did

You do always manage to make your life funny even...

Ariel the Thief said...

So how was it with the toothpicks? Sounds interesting.

The lesson you are giving is good and useful. Now go to sleep. Sweet dreams!

Anonymous said...

I was trying to think if I ever had homework issues with my Son...I am sure there must have been some... time is a good friend...One of my favorite phrases is "This too will pass" Not that you would like to hear that now...so I will just say "Bye for now"

Claire said...

I wish I could tell you that it gets easier, but sadly, no. I'm working on my third and final pass thru 7th grade and I can say with all authority that the homework is brutal. I never remember having as much homework as my kids have had. They really have to learn to pace themselves, especially with big projects. Because they have all been athletes, the pacing thing is critical in order to fit in practices and games. We always made school work come first.

Anonymous said...

I sympathize. Mall Diva is the queen of dumbing down the assignment and giving a quick, slick, superficial answer.
It's a good thing she can play music.

Anonymous said...

our sons usually (a term i use loosely) did their homework, only to lose it in the black hole of their respective book bags.

sometimes you have to let 'em sink of swim on their own. better for Tali to figure that out now, than later! (like, say, when she finds herself turning to you for "inspiration" the day before her doctoral dissertation is due) ; )

Mother Theresa said...

How familiar this sounds. I am always struggling with Ro to get her to finish her homework. It's an uphill battle, let me tell you. When I was that age I didn't have homework, and I think I turned out okay. We really didn't start having homework until junior high, and I don't remember my parents ever helping me or nagging at me to get it done. Now it seems like it's the parents' fault if their kids don't learn anything. What I wonder is what they do at school all day long.

Heather said...

OMG! Homework kills me. Now on the one hand...I am brushing up my basic math skills again...but the amount of homework my boys bring home...it's takes hours every single day to get through it all, and I scratch my head at the oldest ones work alot of the time...I mean I wasn't learning this stuff at this age, some of it really is over my head...I wasn't one of those kids that flourised in the school system myself...I was a honor roll student, I just was hard on the learning/teaching staff...because I wanted to know why all the time. Most of the time teachers are not making my kids feel like it's exciting to learn...it's crunch time for schools, standerized testing is way more important on a finacial level than really educating many times. Did you know that in KY they don't teach spelling anymore? *shocking right?* It gets in the way of the testing schedules. My 5th grader hates me because, they are suppossed to have calculators in class! (public school) When he's at home, I make him do the problems with out it, he really hates that. Thing is he always does it and gets it right *and feels very good about himself too*...at least I know he is not just being trained to be a data entry clerk, another cog in the machine. Great post, keep your chin up...theres so much more to come, we just got the first through the high school process....oooohhhh fun! *gee very uplifting huh?:))

Shari said...

I sometimes wonder how I am doing in the parenting department. It's a lot of work. My kids hate homework and want to do it at the last minute. I hate to remind them; it's their responsiblity. If they don't do it, it's their problem. Then I get that feeling that teachers expect us, the parents, to proofread their work? No, I don't feel it; it's a fact. I have to initialize my youngest's math homework. No kidding. When I was a kid, I didn't have to have my parent initialize my homework.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox.

G said...

Thank you to all for your funny/commiseratory comments. Now bring on the Inventors Fair tomorrow where Tali will be dressed like...

Not so fast - that's fodder for another post :)

Actonbell summed it up with "being a kid is hard and guiding them is just as hard." Truly Tali is a gifted student, but she has her limits and the homework can be onerous. I really sometimes don't see the point - she gets it, how many 100's does she need to achieve on tests to prove that? Enough with the homework already!