The hardest thing about being a parent is letting your kids do things for themselves. It would all be so much simpler and cleaner and quieter if I just did it for them. This is true when you first let your child start feeding himself, when you take off the training wheels, and when you are watching them write essays for college applications.
Seriously, it just gets harder and none, I repeat NONE, of this is ever mentioned in the baby and toddler books I used to read and ignore. No one tells you any of this. Sitting on my hands (so I don't rip the duct tape from my mouth) and watching is painful and frustrating some days.
That's all. Just thought I'd let you all know I've reached this decision and am trying to accept that I have my own life to live and that it's better for all of us if I don't do everything. It might just kill me, but I'm sticking to it.
7 comments:
I always feel like kind of a loser in the mom department because this particular part of motherhood is just not hard for me. I have never had any problems letting my kids fend for themselves. In fact, if I'm guilty of anything it's probably expecting them to do that TOO much.
LOL Anon, send some of that my way. In the past I've been pretty good about letting them figure things out on their own. There's something about all of this college stuff that feels so permanent - it's freaking me out!
Oh my word. I must start working on this skill. Travis is only twelve, but I have a Terrible time restraining myself when I help him with his compositions. No advice at all, but you have my sympathy!
More thoughts... this might be one reason why I'm so annoyed by their schooling this year (and in past years but it seems especially annoying this year). Maybe I'm just totally wrong, but it seems like they should be coming home with homework and project that they can complete totally on their own. Or with just minimal help from me. But the teachers absolutely REQUIRE parental help to the point that some stuff is impossible if I'm not doing at least 50% of the work involved. Pisses me off. I might as well be homeschooling! Which is exactly what we'll be doing next year. If I have to be this involved anyway, then damn it it's going to at least be on my terms :)
Anon, I don't know how old your kids are, but I've found this to be true with many of my friends. They question why they are spending hours and hours each night, AFTER their kids have spent hours and hours at school. It's frustrating to watch. I think you'll get a kick out of homeschooling - your kids will too.
I know we will... we've done it before :). My kids are 13, 12, 10, 8 and one due in Feb. We'll actually be "schooling at home" as opposed to homeschooling though. We'll either do the FL virtual school or K12. I've used the K12 curriculum before when they were little and it worked well for us. I've also done totally from scratch homeschooling but next year, with a new baby in the house, and my kids so much older. I'd rather just have more flexibility with public schooling than actual homeschooling if that makes sense.
Oh wow - you have a lot on your plate. We've had good experiences with the FL virtual school thus far, if that's any help. Rest up and get ready for the baby while you can - as much as you can lol. Easier said than done when you have older kids running around, but do your best.
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