Tonight Jeff and I made a pumpkin for Cole's book report. He read the book, Dragonbreath. I thought it turned out kind of cute:
I hope he gets a good grade--I mean, he DID wait till the very last minute to do anything, and he DIDN'T want to put any effort into his one typed paragraph that was required. BUT Jeff and I made his pumpkin so cute. He drew the face, and I painted it and put the felt spikes on. Teamwork, you know? That always deserves an A+.
Anyway, Syd has a Halloween party at her school on Thursday, and I'm excited for her. She'll be a "puckape". Or for those of you not in the know, a cupcake. And she's going to be adorable. For reals. I'll take pictures.I decided that having this holiday on a Monday really puts me out. I mean, I'm already stressed about how we're going to be super busy with kids at school, and then at home, and then Tuesday morning will be a nightmare because the kids will be coming down from a massive sugar-high, and staying up really late. Even for our family. I guess just realizing that the kids are old enough to go out with their friends and actually enjoy trick-or-treating without Jeff and I having to freeze with them, makes it all so much better. Plus, Riley is excited to take Syd to a few houses, too. And I'm pretty excited to see how she does. She's way into wearing skeleton and monster apparel--she loves it. And she doesn't get scared. Despite it being busy, it will be a fun night. I think. 
So, that's that for now. I guess we'll see what happens and maybe we will all survive. I hope. Until then? I've no clue.
11 comments:
The dragon face and spikes are adorable. Great job! Question, though: Is it just standard practice now for parents to do their kids' homework and reports? I don't even remember asking our parents for help with my stuff. Do teachers encourage this? What's the deal?
Lora, I agree with you, wholeheartedly. And I honestly TRIED to take the higher road and let my kids do things for themselves. And then I'd go see their 3rd grade school displays, and it's embarrassing when your kid's creation looks like a 3rd grader did it. And everyone else's looks like they had Martha Stewart specially create something for them.
And teachers certainly don't DIScourage this. In fact, when I was a judge two Halloweens ago for the best decorated soda liters, I chose the ones that looked like kids did them, as the winners. And the lady in charge kinda blew up at me. I then found out the ones that looked fantastic were all the ones that she made, and she was fully expecting to win each category. (Also president of the PTA, I might add). So yeah, I've caved.
As for the report, it was pretty sucky. And Cole did it, after much yelling and being grounded from his iPod.
I love that pumpkin! Way cute and excellent teamwork indeed. Good luck with the busy-ness! Your story about judging below is kind of disturbing to me! WTH?! You made the right decision. That PTA lady is whack. Strange.
I find this all very disturbing as well. The PTA President is a total freak with way too much time on her hands (and a twig way too far up her you-know-what). In all reality, the situation is pretty funny. This lady is so starved for praise and approval, it's sad. Don't ever feel like you have to cave to someone who is this insecure.
And BTW, I would much rather look at projects made by third graders than Martha Stewart wannabes. Kids are so much more interesting, and adults are way too predictable.
That pumpkin was awesome - did he get an A? It is weird that they have parents help but I guess it's not math or anything too serious. I can't wait to see you all at the party - I have no idea what I'm going to be.
My parents always helped us with our projects but we learned so much that way. I think they expect too much from kids sometimes to do these massive projects and not expect parents to help, how overwhelming for them to have to do it by themselves.
Love how his pumpkin turned out!
Yeah, I'm with Laura. Nice way to say you did Cole's homework. "Teamwork" ;)
Amen Lora! If a kid can't do the homework assigned with the parents doing the majority of it then the curriculum is not age appropriate. AND sounds like the PTA lady belongs on the baby beauty queens reality show. What happened to letting our children live their own lives (within reason of course)? Now that that rants out of the way... Love the pumpkin. It was darling. Looking forward to Halloween pictures. You are all so creative with your costumes. I hate Halloween simply because I can never think of a thing to be :(
I too am dreading Tuesday morning. It might have to be a sluff day! :) It is so weird to see your nieces and nephews grow up over night and even weirder to experience it with your own kids because you see them everyday.I am trying to keep up with the teen thing. That parent/child relationship changes. Love the pumpkin! As for the parents doing the kids homework, it's almost impossible not to. They give them these huge projects with little or no instructions. Lynus in Kindergarten has to make a car that he can fit in out of a box for the kindy500 parade. Teens are doing power point presentations and making movies.
And then there are those parents who just don't do it. When Maggie was in the Kindy500 parade there was this little boy who did not have a car and no parents showed up for him. He was crying and the teacher was too busy with the parade to deal with him. It was sad. I think there are all sorts of outside pressures to make your school look like it's doing all of these great things. It's a show to make the school look good. But I personally think the kids should be involved in choosing the projects. I remember teachers asking us what we wanted to do and asking the class for ideas.
I'm excited to see all of your costumes! You guys do halloween right. And that PTA lady is crazypants!!
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