I have done a lot of homework in my life - twelve years of Catholic school, followed by four years of college, and two years of graduate school. When I received my last degree I foolishly thought that I could throw off the shackles of homework forever.
I was wrong.
I had children.
And while I do NOT do their homework for them – making sure it gets done, and done well, is a daunting task.
I firmly believe, unless my mind is failing me, that even now – in 1st and 3rd grades - they are required to do much more homework than I was expected to complete when I was their age.
Their homework exhausts me.
The first problem is that homework needs to be completed at a time of day when we are usually running from one after school activity to another. Or the boys (and I) are exhausted by the day’s events.
It’s like limping across the finish line of a marathon and discovering that you have to ride your bike home.
The second problem is that I don’t really WANT to do homework with the boys. I have spent the entire day away from them, and to be perfectly honest, I’d rather just have fun. The boys love to come home and play kickball, basketball, or go for a bike ride. So whenever we can, we do.
I should be accustomed to helping the boys with their homework by now.
In our public school system, homework begins in Kindergarten, cleverly disguised as “enrichment.” At the end of each month the students are required to submit a stack of assignments.
How many 5 year olds do you know who are motivated and/or willing to sit down and do their homework on their own?
My favorite Kindergarten “enrichment” projects were innocently sent home as:
“MONTHLY FAMILY PROJECTS!”
Aka, time consuming, “pain-in-my-you-know-what” assignments.
Do you know how long it takes to do a 5-person family hand collage – at Christmas time no less!?
Or a leprechaun trap with at least one moving part?
(I’m not kidding!)
Or a “this is your life” poster board display with at least 10 photographs?
Well let me tell you ---
MORE TIME THAN I WOULD LIKE TO SPEND!
And being the Type-A person that I am, it is unacceptable to throw together just any ole thing for these projects. I want them to be amazing!
As a result, I repeatedly have to stop myself from saying, “Let Mommy do it!” and remember that this is THEIR homework.
Making matters worse is the fact that the homework assignments do not change in kindergarten from year to year – so after making something fabulous with Brendan, I have to turn around two years later and do something equally fabulous, but different with Colin. And in two more years, I’m sure I’ll be facing the same projects a third time with Ryan.
For Brendan and Colin, now that kindergarten has passed and they are “graders,” homework is a nightly ritual, and an interesting thing has begun to happen…..
Both boys are becoming very good at completing their assignments. My role now is to answer questions and to review their work. If I allow myself to see past the chaos that is competing for my attention (dinner, Ryan, work, blog) I actually enjoy spending this time with the boys.
I enjoy watching them learn and grow.
I enjoy witnessing their “a-ha” moments.
And I enjoy watching them get excited about a certain subject/topic/lesson.
Homework is still difficult to “fit in” to our hectic lives, but I am learning to appreciate it for the gift it is giving me ---
The opportunity to watch my boys grow into bigger boys, and ultimately into men.
And I am thankful for that gift.
And the fact that they are no longer required to create moving leprechaun traps!!
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