tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6060788.post5996684077425764008..comments2023-09-01T07:12:46.680-07:00Comments on Magpie Ima: Mamanxiety, Part OneMagpie Imahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09567892262171400521noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6060788.post-57404011743015614422008-02-06T21:12:00.000-08:002008-02-06T21:12:00.000-08:00OMG, this is a constant struggle, isn't it? It is ...OMG, this is a constant struggle, isn't it? It is so hard to know when to push and when to let them spend their time doing things that are important to them, but that are not necessarily helping them make much academic progress. I'm always reminding myself that I don't think I really learned anything through 8th grade except reading and a pretty good amount math (but I really enjoyed math), so I've always figured that I could get reading and basic math covered by the end of eighth grade (age-wise). But then I see my kids' cousins and schooled friends putting together these big reports and projects that my 10-year-old has never come close to, and I get a little freaked out, I admit.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, I had a brother who was a total academic failure--spent his entire high school career smoking and selling pot and playing soccer and had to go to summer school in order to graduate from high school. School was an agonizingly bad fit--he wanted to do art and think and explore. The only way he could survive without losing his mind was to numb his brain long enough to make it through the day. School didn't help him in any way. Now he is a well-functioning adult, reading really obscure scholarly buddhist texts that I can't begin to understand. I think he's managed to become a productive adult despite going to school, not because of it.<BR/><BR/>It is just impossible not to fret and worry, though, isn't it? What mom worth her salt doesn't?ElizOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02871039122447763582noreply@blogger.com