NeahkahniePeace
New member
Hi there, I am new here, I just joined a couple days ago. I have a couple kids, a 14 y/o son and a 9 y/o daughter, and I couldn’t agree more about how just awful it is to have to deal with the school. School functions, crowded gyms, parent/teacher conferences, attempting to volunteer in the classroom…I say attempting because I finally just gave up trying. It just made me a wreck to have to go to the school, sign in, interact with the other parents and the teacher. The worst, the absolute worst, was when I went to a PTA meeting. I went to one, and only one. I knew it was a bad idea trying, going in, but I really wanted to try to be involved with the school. It was a horrible experience, and my first introduction to how clique-focused other parents are. I guess I am not cool enough to be part of the “in” moms crowd, lol.
Even worse, I have found, is the socialization required off the school premises. The birthday parties with awkward introductions to the other parents, the play dates where you really just want to drop your kid off at their house and flee, but the parents want to get to know you so they invite you in for tea, and you know it’s going to suck and you have nothing to say, but your child has this kid they love playing with and you want them to be able to keep seeing this kid, and you don’t want to be rude….so you agonize through it, and in the end you know the other parent thinks you are a total weirdo. My son started kindergarten in 2005, and my daughter is now entering 4th grade, so I have many more years of this to go through yet.
My daughter also wanted to play soccer, which meant taking her to practices two nights a week, and games every Saturday. We did it for a year and a half before she (thank God) lost interest. But at practices all the parents sit together, chit chat, gossip, etc…..I was the parent who sat apart from them with my nose in a book, and tried to be friendly but was really just stand-offish.
As for the school shootings, I live in Portland and that actually happened here just a few days ago. I am not going to be over it for a long time. My son is 14, and will be a freshman next year, and the boy who was killed was 14 and I think the shooter was 14 or maybe 15. So that one hit home, hard. My son thinks I have gone off the deep end because I won’t stop hugging him and crying, and talking about homeschooling. You always think that kind of thing happens somewhere else, but it can happen anywhere. We also had the Kyron Horman disappearance happen just a few miles from our home, not our school but we know kids who go there. Things really changed here in Portland schools after that happened. And even today in convenience stores and supermarkets, and on people’s cars there are Missing: Kyron Horman flyers still up, you just can’t forget about it and the city has not moved on yet. So there is a whole new level of school-related anxiety that I never imagined I would have when my son was just a baby. How can I send my kids out into that?
Anyway, I could go on forever but I am just really happy I found this forum, and wish I would have years ago. I feel very isolated and it’s nice to know there are similar people out there with similar issues.
Even worse, I have found, is the socialization required off the school premises. The birthday parties with awkward introductions to the other parents, the play dates where you really just want to drop your kid off at their house and flee, but the parents want to get to know you so they invite you in for tea, and you know it’s going to suck and you have nothing to say, but your child has this kid they love playing with and you want them to be able to keep seeing this kid, and you don’t want to be rude….so you agonize through it, and in the end you know the other parent thinks you are a total weirdo. My son started kindergarten in 2005, and my daughter is now entering 4th grade, so I have many more years of this to go through yet.
My daughter also wanted to play soccer, which meant taking her to practices two nights a week, and games every Saturday. We did it for a year and a half before she (thank God) lost interest. But at practices all the parents sit together, chit chat, gossip, etc…..I was the parent who sat apart from them with my nose in a book, and tried to be friendly but was really just stand-offish.
As for the school shootings, I live in Portland and that actually happened here just a few days ago. I am not going to be over it for a long time. My son is 14, and will be a freshman next year, and the boy who was killed was 14 and I think the shooter was 14 or maybe 15. So that one hit home, hard. My son thinks I have gone off the deep end because I won’t stop hugging him and crying, and talking about homeschooling. You always think that kind of thing happens somewhere else, but it can happen anywhere. We also had the Kyron Horman disappearance happen just a few miles from our home, not our school but we know kids who go there. Things really changed here in Portland schools after that happened. And even today in convenience stores and supermarkets, and on people’s cars there are Missing: Kyron Horman flyers still up, you just can’t forget about it and the city has not moved on yet. So there is a whole new level of school-related anxiety that I never imagined I would have when my son was just a baby. How can I send my kids out into that?
Anyway, I could go on forever but I am just really happy I found this forum, and wish I would have years ago. I feel very isolated and it’s nice to know there are similar people out there with similar issues.
: I was like "I wasn't born in 1964, smart azz!" :lol: