The Homework Nazi

There is a woman who requires homework to be completed the moment you walk in the door.   (Snack?  No.  You had one at the sitters AND I’m making dinner.)

The first thing she does is order the assignment books to be presented so that she can see what’s she’s in for and just how long the children will be working.  (Don’t tell her you did it at school and think she’ll believe you.  If you did it at school, bring it home.  She has to SEE it.)

She doesn’t allow you to daydream, goof off, or ask questions that obviously are an attempt to delay the homework doing process.  (No, I don’t know why… hey!  That’s not part of your homework.  Get back to it.)

She checks laptop screens to make sure that the program being used isn’t that of MineCraft.  (No, child, I can assure you that no teacher assigned Mine Craft as homework.)

And rather than just glancing over it to make sure all the blanks are filled in or that it meets the minimum length requirement, she actually makes sure the answers are right.  (Well, almost right.  Chemistry, biology and well, anything with an -ology or in a foreign language is tricky.)

That she….. that Homework Nazi?

It’s me.

Or at least that’s what the Things (and the hubs) call me.

It used to bother me, but not so much anymore. Because I CARE.

I CARE that my things, all four of them, are doing what they are supposed to in school.

I CARE that they understand their lessons.

I CARE that they are responsible.

I CARE that they are being taught life lessons every day.

And I HATE, and I mean HATE, when schools start making things easy for them.

This whole block scheduling thing my older kids are on?  I know they love it.  But I’m not a fan.  Especially when it was presented as “it’s easier on the kids.”

Um, what? Easier on the kids?

They have it easy.  They get up and go to school, come home, do homework and then go play… maybe doing some chores.

How much easier do we need to make it for them?  Should I do their homework for them?

(I think not.  I didn’t like any of those -ologies when I was in school and I don’t like them now.)

And tonight, in the 5th grade session at school they talked about doing pseudo-block scheduling since they would have it at the middle school and that it would be EASIER for them, eliminating homework.

Um, hello?

Eliminating the homework… the practice time?  It’s not helping!

They have time to do homework!  Really.  They do.  I know because when the timer goes off for the end of their screen time, there is still time left in the day.

And don’t think that I enjoy homework time.

I don’t.

I abhor it.  Much like the school supply shopping.  (Because sometimes it makes me feel dumb!) And there are struggles because they don’t want to do it but GUESS WHAT?

There are going to be things in life that they don’t want to do that they are going to have to do!  They might as well get used to it now.

Don’t you think?

I just want to raise my kids to be responsible, contributing members of society that love Jesus with every ounce of their being.

Am I the only one who hates that we’re giving in to these kids and making it easier for them?

Or am I just the mean old mom/step-mom?

And don’t get me started about how they can’t carry books anymore (or backpacks in the school) because they are too heavy… (ask me how many books I carried… when I walked to school… uphill…both ways…barefoot… in the snow…. heh)

Until next time…

The Homework Nazi