My head feels full of clay...only external inputs that can drill their way through six inches of solid, wet, sticky clay can actually penetrate to my brain...needless to say not much gets in. And not much gets out either. Which is why this will not be a coherent post but a string of unrelated paragraphs. Enjoy.
Last spring I signed up for a weekend writing workshop at a retreat center in western Massachusetts. All this time, I have been thinking that this workshop would take place next weekend, October 24-26. Yesterday it occurred to me to double-check the dates and I learned it will actually be taking place THIS weekend, October 17-19. Oops.
This morning as we were getting in the car to go to daycare, I mumbled to myself, "I'm so tired I'm going to die." Z overheard this and said, "No! Not my want you die." Awww.
Yesterday I dropped the kids at daycare just as the kids from School B left to catch their bus. All of the kids must sit and watch TV until School B leaves. After they were gone, the preschool "teacher" turned off the TV and announced, "The girls can go play in the (toy) kitchen. The boys can play cars." I just sort of gaped as I sat with E and Z eating their Cheerio's and Rice Krispies. "What are you going to play with?" I asked them. "Nofin'" Z said. After finishing their breakfast they got two bulldozers off a shelf and drove them around in the kitchen area (not the boy-sanctioned car rug). Can I look at this as a sign of them comfortably crossing (and defying) arbitrary gender roles? WTF?
Finally, M brought home from school last week a flier inviting, "Hey Kids! Come join the Good News Club!" Whenever you hear "good news" you gotta assume it's bad news, in the form of religious brainwashing...in this case the Child Evangelism Fellowship. I wrote three letters to the teacher and principal. I tore them up. I considered calling the principal, but I didn't. I'm holding onto the flier to take with me to the next PTA meeting, or parent teacher conferences and discuss it with him there. Double WTF???
The timing of this workshop: most horrible or just what is needed? I can't decide...
ReplyDeleteOK, coming from your friend whose husband is studying to become an Episcopal priest-- such flyer distributed through school is so not cool. Not cool. I would have issue with this & I think it is most appropriate to bring it up at the PTO meeting and/or write said letters. It might make sense to approach the principal about it directly-- let her/him know upfront where you are coming from. I've been in school situations where parents have 'talked amongst themselves' first and it got bigger and bigger without the direct talk initially. This put the school's principal immediately on the defensive and the main point sort of got lost.
My two cents. Feel free to ignore.
Depends on whether it's a religious school or not - if it is, it's probably to be expected. If not, I think a simple "I would like my permission to be asked before my child is given religious material, please" would probably do. I am honestly more worried about the girls play here and boys play here thing. I think I would have to talk to someone about that.
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