Tuesday, February 24, 2015

I could Home School the Brats, but They'd be Missing Out

This morning the Pizzmeister asked me why I couldn't teach him at home, which caught me off guard because I was under the impression that he really enjoyed going to school.  So, I asked him, "Don't you like going to school, buddy?"  His response was a luke warm, "A little bit." 

I guess it's not quite as fun as he was hoping.  I told him that school is a little bit tiresome at times, but well worth the time and effort you put in to it.  I also told him that I really could teach him at home if it came right down to it, but he was probably better off going to school because it will help prepare him better for dealing with people when he is an adult. 

As I explained it to him, the most important aspect of school is learning how to socialize and cope with others and gaining different perspectives. That's something you can only learn through experience.  

If he stayed home to be taught by Mama Bear and I, he would miss out on some vital life experience, like group learning and working in a group of people and having to follow a bunch of arbitrary rules that vary from authority figure to authority figure.  

In other words, he wouldn't have the opportunity of being forced to work with a bunch of knuckleheads he doesn't like and having to be good about it.

Anyway, sure, I could do the leg work and organize group outings and activities, and I would gladly do so if needed, but, to be honest, it would never compare to the type of interactions he could get from a public school if only for the fact that the school has so many more people than I could gather.  More people equals more personalities that you have to deal with, which is a good thing if you are going to learn to cope with the jack holes you will later work for as an adult employee. 

Long story short, yes I could home school the brats, but they would miss out on some serious socialization and grow up to be a weirdos or something.

Ain't nobody got time for that!

So, after that brief discussion, the Pizzmeister decided that he would give school more time before he decides if he likes it or not.  
I didn't bother telling him that the decision to go or not wasn't up to him, but I figured it was better to stave off that argument for a little longer, hopefully indefinitely. 



Thursday, February 5, 2015

Knowing What's Important

In just over a week my little guy is going to turn 5.  

My gosh!  

Where has the time gone?!


The Pizzmeister can't be five yet because I swear I can remember holding him for the first time like it was yesterday.  I was so proud that I was crying unabashedly.

He was just so perfect, sweet, and innocent. I couldn't fathom the idea that any part of me could have possibly contributed to the making of such a creature.

Of course, all us parent types think our little ones are just little images of perfection, and it took me having my own child to realize that we are all right.

Our children do start off as perfect as they are going to get, then we systematically screw them up with our good intentions.

Some of us do this by preparing our children for the harsh realities of life right away and try our hardest to toughen them up. Some of us hide the world from our children and let them believe the worst thing that could ever happen in their lives is a broken toy.  Some of us try to do both.  Some us don't know what we are doing, but we are doing the best we can.

We, everyone of us parents, work hard in our own way to provide for our children, hoping to give them all they could ever want or need and give them as many opportunities as possible.  

We do this because we want them to have everything.

And, sometimes, we get so caught up in this giving of stuff, that we forget to give our children what they want most, us, and there is only a short window of time when it is us they want most.  

Don't squander that time.  

If there is anything I have learned these past five years, it's that life is fast.  It goes by quickly, and if you are not careful you miss a lot and then wonder where the time went.

These moments are important reminders for us to stop, give our children all the hugs we can, and make sure that if nothing else they know how much we love them because it would be really heart breaking if they ever questioned that, even for just an instant, at any point in their lives. 

And, it's not enough to just show them you love them.  You have to tell them too and tell them often.