TGIF
Not only is it Friday, it’s a three day weekend! Yay! I’m kinda thinking I could use a long weekend right about now. Seems like I’ve been busy busy busy lately.
Last weekend, Maya and I attended a girls seminar held by Soroptomist International. Maya took classes in Self Defense, Yoga, and Etiquette, and I took classes in Talking to your teen-aged daughter, and helping your teen to succeed. Maya liked her classes, except the one on etiquette, which she didn’t like at all. But the classes that she might have been more interested in were full, so that’s what she got. But she did learn a few self defense moves, and enjoyed stretching out in yoga class. I enjoyed my classes, though I think the women at this group were a privledged bunch, and there was a lot of inside speak about books and authors that they sort of assumed everyone would have read. The main thing I got out of the helping your daughter to succeed class was that while 90% of parents say that the one thing they want for their kids is for them to be happy, at this age, most parents are much more stressed out about what college the kids will get into, which can actually get in the way of their later success in life. The theory, which I agree with, is that kids who are micro-managed in every aspect of their school and extracurricular activities are less likely to be able to think independently and have a creative mind. So it’s better to back off a bit. The way she put it was that parents say their goal for their kids is for them to be happy, which is a long term, life long goal. But they’re focused on this short term, limited time goal at the expense of teaching them the life skills that they will need to meet those long term goals. So, parents, relax a bit, and let your kids daydream. Don’t be so hard on them to be competitive and get into the best school. They still might get in, and they might not, but either way, they’ll be better off if they’re not so stressed out all of the time. I may have been the only person in the room who wasn’t that worried about my daughter getting into the ‘best school’, because we can’t afford the ‘best school’ anyway. Something tells me that while I may have been alone in that room, I’m not alone out here in the real world.
Sunday was a lovely day, spent with Ted’s family, including his cousin who was visiting from England. Then the workweek kicked in, and I had a company dinner to attend on Tuesday evening, an all day meeting on Wednesday, and somewhere along the way, I seem to have picked up some kind of food poisoning. Blech. My tummy hasn’t been happy.Â
Yesterday the workers came to stain the shingles on our condo, which looks pretty good, but smelled to high heaven, so I had to evacuate. I worked fast and furious from 6am to 10am, then pretty much bailed and took the rest of the day off. Maya has a long weekend, so she was off school, and we took Genevieve and went to an Auntie’s house and hung out there. Whew. Then orthodontist appointment (she gets braces next week…her big ouch! I had to pay yesterday…our big ouch!), and home to a slightly less smelly house.
And here we are, it’s Friday. Girl Scouts tonight. Tummy still rumbling and not happy.  Sears coming later to work on our washer/dryer. Work stuff to complete. No big plans for the weekend, except to relax and hopefully sleep better than I have been able to with the tummy yucks.
Hope you have a three day weekend, and that it treats you well! Happy Friday!
9 Comments
Autumn's Mom
On the class, you are not alone. I’m with ya! Sorry you are having tummy troubles. I’m having some as well..but I don’t think it’s food poisoning. Doesn’t make me feel any better saying that 🙁 Wishing I had a long weekend like you, dangit! Have a restful weekend.
Nance
Too much emphasis is placed on “the school.” College is what you make it. A kid will get an excellent education if he/she puts forth a good effort and goes for it. I’ve written countless letters of recommendation for my students to highfalutin colleges, and then the kids come home after a semester or a year because they miss being around people “like them” and go to a state school or a college nearer home. They end up getting a fine education and degree and have no less prestigious careers. I also sit on the interview committee for our school’s English department; we make the decision on new hires. Rarely do we look at where the candidate went to college. It’s the PERSON we look at and listen to.
Maya's Granny
Have a good weekend. You have had a busy week.
starshine
I hope your tummy gets to feeling better soon!
Have a nice long relaxing weekend.
Karen MEG
That course you took with Maya sounds like it was great! A girls’ weekend where you both learned something.
I hope your tummy feels better soon. Food poisoning, so not fun.
We got a long weekend here too, a new statutory holiday on Monday called “Family Day”. Yay!
lilalia
Like your dear Maya, my children will probably not go to a top-ranking, expensive university, since we can not afford it. Yet, when I look at how they manage to succeed at school without our help, how they choose their extra curricular activities independent from our influences, how they are involved in community work, I trust them to live a happy and successful life though their own intelligence and dedication. It is not that I discount the benefits of a privileged upbringing, or a top university degree, but there are far more people who live happy lives without ever having experienced these things than those that have.
Susan in Italy
Uck! Sorry about the food poisoning, hope the weekend got better!
Kris
I found you through your mother’s blog which I found through a google search on Sarah Osborne.
You and I are cousins of sort in that we are both directly descended from “Granny” Osborne.
Based on that I thought I would say “hi” and introduce myself. 🙂
kookiejar
Hope your tummy continues to improve. I agree that kids shouldn’t be so scheduled. When my kids were growing up, the neighborhood kids were always off enrolled in some activity and there was no one around just to hang out with and get in trouble with the way kids are supposed to. It was unnatural.