2-8-13

Reading a lot of Katniss Everdeen may be a good way to spark your own revolution.

I found myself with a mission of epic proportions. I needed someone to hear me. I needed someone to listen. I needed someone who had the authority or ability to help me change things. I decided I would find that person or people.

I emailed my impassioned plea to everyone from the school principal to the superintendent. I no longer can sit by and just bitch about the quantity of homework that my children have. Bobby’s homework on Wednesday night was nearing 90 minutes, even with him truly working hard the whole time. It wasn’t difficult homework, either. It was time consuming and tons of busy work that was the slowest part of the evening. I have dried his eyes too many times each week, trying to encourage him to keep going even though not so deep down I agreed with his assessment that it was just too damn much for a 7 year old.

My spark was enough yesterday to get some conversation going.

I heard back from a few members of the school board. They assured me it would be looked into. The principal then got back to me, which was a win for the battle waged yesterday. The war isn’t over, but I feel like I have made some progress. She had a meeting with all of the second grade teachers yesterday afternoon to discuss the issue. She was going to pull the District guidelines and policies for homework and health wellness in the area of recess breaks in order to review. She seemed to hear me. Sure, it could all just be a well-crafted ‘fuck you’ letter, but I don’t think it is just that. When I showed up on campus to pick up the boys, I noted that Bobby’s teacher looked solemn while speaking with the principal, and she trudged off towards the teacher’s lounge, which is something I never see her do right after class. Meetings were going to be conducted. Discussions would be had.

I feel bad. Let me explain. I don’t feel bad that I have tried to get things changed. I don’t even really feel bad that I did things the way I did. This isn’t something that just needs to be changed on a classroom level. This has to be changed for every grade, every classroom, every school, every district from here to the other side of the country. I do not just want my son to have less homework. I want every son and every daughter to have less homework. That being said, I feel like I may have upset or hurt the feelings of the teachers that are in charge of the very classrooms I am fighting to change. That was never my intention. I like these instructors. I like how Ms. Jenkins calls Bobby “Bob-o”. I love how these teachers have embraced my kids and other kids with their faults and still love them unconditionally. I just think that overall the system has gotten away from everyone. I think we needed to all step back and see what is really important in the education of our children.

My rebellion seems to leak into all aspects of my life yesterday. I bailed on work early so that I could spend a couple of hours prepping AYSO documents for the meeting last night. I didn’t even stay long at the meeting. Ken and I got there and I played the sick card and was able to stick around long enough to approve the prior meetings’ minutes and unveil my new financial report and then we ducked out. Ken and I ended up going and getting a drink at the local sports bar near our house before being able to get home before 8pm, which was fantastic. I wasn’t playing by anyone’s rules yesterday but my own.

Sadly, it looks that my hooky is producing gobs of work for me to catch up on this morning.