Month: March 2008

Results Of Big Weekend

The big weekend didn’t go as well as we had hoped. The rest of the weekend went pretty much like the early update. We had some mild, bribery induced successes.? But there were also many, many accidents. To the point where Thing 2 actually asked to wear a diaper on Sunday. I was proud of his effort, he was trying very hard, but I could see his frustration.

We gave the teachers at daycare the green light to continue today, too. He normally does much better there when he goes along with his friends as a group.

I’m about to leave work, on my way to pickup at daycare. I’m not very cautiously optimistic.

Homeschooling Is A Hot Topic

When I was starting out as a bartender while in college, I was given a valuable piece of advice. I was told to always avoid religion and politics as topics, because bar clients, especially after a few drinks, will become very heated and at least half will disagree with my point of view and leave a lousy tip.

Now there is a third topic I know to avoid: homeschooling. I received some very spirited comments to last week’s parenting poll.

The question was whether homeschooling makes sense. As of now, the results stand at 50-50. That’s a true sign of a hot topic, two evenly divided sides.

I still can’t say I understand it, but at least I have a better take on why. Here are some of the comments:

Homeschooling has less to do with gaining a better education…and more to do with curbing the influence the rest of the world has on their children – Chuck

If your child is bullied, molested, poorly educated, has self-esteem damaged????then what – Sade

So it isn’t about the quality of the education, though that is a factor in some cases. Rather, it is an attempt to shield your kids from outside influences or different moral values. I get it.

My response would be that they will be exposed to the evils of the world eventually. Kids need to learn how survive in today’s society. Better to have them learn from the start.

Thanks for the thoughtful comments everyone.

And, as I would have done at the bar, we’ll agree to disagree. Can I top you off? And how ’bout them Giants! (sports is always a safe topic)

Weekend Update

First update on the big weekend. Thing 2 was very excited to be wearing big boy underwear. He picked Thomas The Train. He was even more excited when he saw the bag of Oreos. He gets one every time he goes potty.

The Oreos were an instant success. He went pee pee in the potty! Everyone is happy.

Thirty minutes later, a setback. Thomas The Train is full of poop. I clean Thing 2 up and next up is Elmo. I think Thing 2 thinks there is an endless supply of underwear, like diapers, and after an accident he gets to pick a new pair.

Hmm. Maybe I need to rethink the strategy. We’ll stick with it for the rest of the day.

Parenting Poll Of The Week – Homeschooling?

I’ve been hearing a lot about homeschooling lately. Frankly, I don’t get it. I’m a live and let live kinda guy, so I don’t mind if people want to homeschool their kids. Knock your self out. I just don’t get WHY anyone would want to in the first place.

I can see if maybe you live in the wilderness somewhere, and the nearest school is 50 miles away, it might make sense to homeschool. Or, maybe if you are, in fact, a teacher, and want to give homeschooling a go, I’ll buy it. But those cases aside, I simply do not get it.

Why would you think you could do a better job that an entire building of people whose job it is to teach? And, in the case of public schools, it costs nothing. Why is this bad, again?

I could do my own dry cleaning. I could make my own clothes. I could cut my own hair. I could plow my own roads. I could deliver my own babies. But I choose to let the professionals do it.

So, I pose the question to you…

[poll=8]

Big Event This Weekend

I’ve written a lot about the difficulties we’ve had with Thing 1 and potty training.? I guess it’s to be expected since he’s our first one and we learn as we go.? It’s what experts call the “guinea pig syndrome”.

We have tried very hard not to push Thing 2 to use the potty until he is ready.? He actually started going potty some time ago.? At preschool, he goes all the time, and his diaper is rarely wet.? At home, he almost always refuses to go.? But we don’t push him.

Now, his teacher is saying he is ready.? We’ve thought so, too, for a while now, but were reluctant.? So we’ve decided this weekend will be the big switch over.? We’ll get out the big boy underwear and make a big deal.

The way I see it, this can go one of two ways.? Either he embraces the potty and never looks back (I’ve heard legends of this happening), or we crash and burn, and we’re in for a rough weekend.? If that’s the case, at least I’ll have plenty of entertaining blog material for Monday.

Wish me luck.