Over-Achieving Didn’t Used To Happen Year-Round
Remember getting bored when you were a kid because there was nothing to do?
If, like me, you’re old enough to remember annual periods of guilt-free aimless time when you were young, you’re old enough to be a parent whose own kids have probably never had a similar experience.
Today, most sports, music and academic programs continue during school vacations and through the summer. I guess that’s so kids are never forced to take any risky breaks from improving their exploding talents. It also ensures that we parents will continue to have a place to go where other parents are gathered, so we have consistent bragging opportunities.
But for anyone who has considered making an effort to reduce their motherbragging while spending loads of unproductive time with their children, I recommend taking the summer off. This year I decided not to fill out a single application or pay a single penny to keep my children progressing at anything.
And I’m not worried. Because come fall, I’ll simply claim that my superior parenting methods include purposely exposing my children to a few months of nothing organized, scheduled or challenging.
No one has to know how difficult it has been to have my kids around every day, especially when what they do with their time might not be considered even remotely remarkable.
As a parent, the pressure to “position” your child is ridiculous.
My son is only 5 and has a hard time w/ his “k” pronunciation–I had mentioned it to LOTS of people–spouse, teacher, school speech therapist, the like–and everyone told me to STOP being dramatic and reactionary.
Yet during his Valentine’s Party yesterday, the speech therapist came in and pulled my son and another boy out of the class to “play”. The subsequent explanation was that he (shocking) wasn’t pronouncing his “k” sound at all, and that he was “helping” another boy with his pronoun use, and boy, it was a good thing I was there so she could talk to me about it in case it didn’t improve by the end of the year and then there would have to be additional intervention/pull-out/IEP action during kindergarten.
What?
This is probably the first true crossroads moment in my mothering career: I was/am at a complete loss.
Undoubtedly, parents encounter these crossroads repeatedly through their journey of Human Being Facilitation/Creation/Motivation.
In my opinion, and in the opinion of my mom, camp should just be a place where kids can be kids…away from the angst and turmoil of constant judgment, positioning, angling and other unauthentic behaviors that typically leave us confused and, at worst, paralyzed.
So, if you DO want your kids to go to summer camp this year, then let them help choose the summer camp and the program.
THEY need the break, too.