Absolutely no attention span
By Katharine
Since it's been a slow afternoon here, I was re-reading some of Jeff's previous blog entries and I'm struck by the number of times my attention span, or lack thereof, has come up. For example, my father mentions in a comment that I used to put together large, 3 ring binders filled with notes, pictures, stories, etc.. of metal bands I liked. All alphabetized for easy access. And he's right when he says that if I put a tenth of that effort into my school work, I would have graduated with some sort of cum laude... BUT, I had absolutely *no* interest in schoolwork and would spend my days in some sort of fog. Writing notes to friends, writing notes to my boyfriend/fiance/whatever he was at the time... I would also write long "romantic predictions" for my friends featuring whatever boy/actor/celebrity they had a crush on that week. Now THAT was interesting. So here's the question... since I wasn't exactly good in school... how the heck am I going to tell any potential/maybe someday/we're not really sure we want any children that THEY should pay attention in school???? I mean.. kind of hypocritical of me don't you think? Maybe that's the area where Jeff should step in and parent?? ;-)
Since it's been a slow afternoon here, I was re-reading some of Jeff's previous blog entries and I'm struck by the number of times my attention span, or lack thereof, has come up. For example, my father mentions in a comment that I used to put together large, 3 ring binders filled with notes, pictures, stories, etc.. of metal bands I liked. All alphabetized for easy access. And he's right when he says that if I put a tenth of that effort into my school work, I would have graduated with some sort of cum laude... BUT, I had absolutely *no* interest in schoolwork and would spend my days in some sort of fog. Writing notes to friends, writing notes to my boyfriend/fiance/whatever he was at the time... I would also write long "romantic predictions" for my friends featuring whatever boy/actor/celebrity they had a crush on that week. Now THAT was interesting. So here's the question... since I wasn't exactly good in school... how the heck am I going to tell any potential/maybe someday/we're not really sure we want any children that THEY should pay attention in school???? I mean.. kind of hypocritical of me don't you think? Maybe that's the area where Jeff should step in and parent?? ;-)
posted by Katharine at 3:28 PM
3 Comments:
Because I was SO interested in school...I should be the parent in charge of education (should I ever be a parent, that is)? Sure, why not. It'll be mandatory homework time whenever Dad (that would be me in this example) wants to play XBOX games and watch DVDs. What's wrong with that?
I recommend a policy of absolute honesty with your children. Explain to them that your schoolwork wasn't challenging enough, so you devised projects for yourself--such as creative fiction writing (particularly in the highly lucrative romance field) and journalism, keeping track of an entire segment of the music industry and preparing research tools.
Also, remember that when it comes to raising children, hypocrasy is your friend. I myself lied shamelessly to my children, telling them how much I studied, when in fact I went to one of the biggest party schools around--and ended up staying seven years to graduate. And the coolness I acquired there has never deserted me.
{Doubtless you were expecting me to say I told you so. Well, I would not dream of saying it. I wouldn't even hint about it. Not a single word. No matter how many times I have to pick myself up off the floor after rolling around laughing.}
Still amused that I'm supposed to be the "responsible" parent.
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