QCC CELEBRATES 500 POSTS!

500.

Yup.

Other than various lapses in posting due to family, personal or biochemical drama, I've actually kept doing this for over two years. And, even more incredibly, you've kept reading.

Just a quick question: WHY?

No, seriously, thank you. Thank you for taking time out of your busy day and reading my ramblings. It makes me very happy to be even moderately entertaining to the strong, the few, the brave, the readers of QCC.

And now, on to a complaint. This will sound familiar to regular readers.

WHY do schools have SO MANY damn ACTIVITIES during the DAY?

As someone who finally has a job again outside the home, I'm noticing how many things happen during the day at my kids' school. In my daughter's Kindergarten class, there have been three separate parent/child events, all within the space of one week. Oy.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy seeing my child at school. It's fun to see how happy she is to have Mom or Dad visit. But Grandparents' Day? Why a separate Grandparents' Day? We had a Special Male Friends Day and a Special Female Friends Day, so doesn't that cover it?

And shortly, I'm off to the wide open spaces for Pioneer Day, which the second grade is putting on for THREE HOURS.

Don't other people have to work?

Maybe, at our school, they don't. After all, until recently, I was one of those mothers who was home all day every day. But I guess what I wonder about is, how do the children whose parents CAN'T make any of these events feel? Isn't it kind of shitty to keep hosting adult/child activities during the day when so many parents work all day? How helpful is this for the kids who have no "buddy" or whose grandparents live 300 miles away to keep having to go solo at these functions? Doesn't that kind of blow?

There's an unspoken expectation that you will drop everything for your child. In terms of health, that is absolutely 100% true. If my child needs me, I'm there. But define "need." It's nice to be at every class party, but is it really necessary? And honestly, is it really healthy? My children do better and have more fun at class parties when I'm NOT there. They're in their school mode, and seeing me throws them off. Sure, if it's a special parent event, or a performance, fine; I WANT to see that. But for a Valentine's party? Do I need to be there helping them do a damn craft while they're running around hopped up on cinnamon hearts? I guess that's just not me.

I'd rather be there for them when they get home, ready to play or snuggle or read, than be there with them at school, where they are supposed to go without us.

In times of crisis, a parent should drop everything for their children. That's really a no-brainer.

But in times of monthly celebratory sugar-fests, I think I'll pass.