My wife and I have one prized possession in the world and it happens to be our son...We think he is smart, handsome, funny...all of that good stuff that people say about their kids...With that being said, we don't feel the need to broadcast his accomplishments to the whole world like a lot of parents do...Now, I'm not saying that its a bad thing to broadcast those things, I'm simply saying that I feel like nobody cares if my son is on the honor roll except for us and MAYBE some select family members, but that is it...Nobody cares if he plays sports except for us and nobody cares where he goes to school except for us...That's why we choose not to broadcast his life to the world with bumper stickers and magnets...Again, not a bad thing...just not for us...as a matter of fact, one of the reasons I don't want a magnet with his school name on my car is that I don't want to be at the grocery store and have another parent from that school strike up a meaningless conversation with me in the parking lot (I know it sounds bad, but it's true :))...We have just never been the kind of people to be that involved...don't get me wrong, we are involved, but not overly...We will show up for parent/teacher conferences and school plays (only if he's in it), or sporting events (if he's in it), but I'm not trying to go to family movie night at the school when I can take him to the movie theater and there's no pressure for small talk...and I sure as hell ain't wearing the school socks that they tried to sell us in the first week of school...I can't even think of a kid who would want to wear school socks let alone the parents...they should be ashamed of themselves trying to sell us some bullshit like that :)
When we grew up, our parents were the same way as we are (pretty much)...they would come to our games and events, but they didn't over-do it and I am so thankful for that. My mom was not in the PTA or PTO or whatever they call it now and dads weren't even expected to be involved at all (those were the days:))...and I realize now exactly why they didn't get too involved...BECAUSE IT'S TOO MUCH TO KEEP UP WITH and TOO TIME CONSUMING! You'll miss out on your kid's whole life just trying to keep up with all the shit that they get could involved with...Again, just my opinion...I'm not trying to start any debates here...I know when it comes to kids, everybody has their own way of doing things.
When we signed our son up for his school, they asked for an email address on the contact info sheet...My wife and I have one joint email account for work that both of us can send and receive from...this was the email address we used, figuring that if the teacher or office needed to get a hold of us they could always reach one of us...Also, any school info would come to us both and we would both be "in the loop"...Little did I know that when we did that, I would be thrown into an endless pit of bullshit emails and "play date/PTA" hell...I kid you not, I get at least 5 emails a day either from his school or Moms of other kids wanting something...usually time or money...And I'd be an asshole if I ask to get off the list right? Then I'd be labeled a bad dad who doesn't care...But really, I think deep down, 75% of the parents just want to be left alone and it's the other 25% who have nothing better to do than be overly involved in planning their kid's lives and the lives of other kids that make it hell on the rest of us (and make us look bad)...I just imagine all of the stay-at-home Moms (no offense here at all...I happen to think being a stay at home mom is the hardest job in the world...as a matter of fact, I would pull my hair out and be hooked on prescription pills if I had to stay at home all day with kids)...But, I think they have too much time on their hands and when the babies are napping, they start planning shit for the rest of us...Here is the newest event that we are expected to be involved in...This Wednesday is Teacher Snack Day (the word snack drives me crazy, by the way)...So it is the job of the Kindergarten parents to provide snacks for the teachers...WHAT?...We are three weeks into the school year and somehow we have to provide "snacks" for the teachers...I think that's crap...They do a good job and I appreciate their hard work, but I don't feel like I need to provide them with snacks...The principal (their boss) should provide snacks...Actually, who the hell needs a "snack" day anyway? If I'm a teacher, I'm thinking "Wow, that's lame...snack day? How about whiskey day for dealing with your brats from 8 til 3?"...The way I see it is we already provide tuition, which provides their paycheck, which in turn provides them with snacks at their home (and liquor)...I don't ever remember our customers banning together to have "Realtor Appreciation Day" and getting snacks for us...So Mr. Principal...Step it up!
So, we get the email from one of the other "better" parents that says The Teacher/Staff Appreciation Committee (see, too much time on their hands, they have committees for everything now) is sponsoring this "snack day" and here are some suggestions of what we should bring...blah blah blah...I can't even read these emails any longer, they make me sick :)...So, my wife signs us up for muffins...which is hilarious, because I know damn well she ain't baking any muffins...at best, we'll make a last minute trip to Costco and buy a pallet of 200 or so assorted muffins...she should have just said we'll bring water...now that we can handle...we could fill up some old 2 liter bottles and bring a Styrofoam cooler of ice with plastic cups...that's a little more up our alley...muffins? not so much! So all of the other parents respond to the email as well, but not just to the sender...they reply to all of us...so now, not only do I have to read about the snack day, but also what EVERY other parent is planning to bring...and I can hear their voices saying "we'll make a casserole", "we're bringing croissants (probably in a french accent...to sound cool and refined)" and "we'll bring bagels and cream cheese"...We got 15 responses back on what everyone was bringing...torture! And I can't blame everybody for responding to "all"...whoever did it first set the standard, the rest of us were pressured into it...But here's the kicker...this weekend, the planner for the whole thing sends out a new email that says..."Just a reminder...blah blah blah...so far we have four people bringing (a list of four things)...so there is still plenty of opportunity to get involved"...I wanted to throw my computer through a wall...ONLY FOUR RESPONSES? I have fifteen still in my inbox (I never delete things from my inbox)...what kind of planner is this?...I told my wife, "you know what's coming next...fifteen more emails correcting her"...sure as shit, my email started going off...I could just imagine the old AOL guy saying "you've got mail", "you've got mail", "you've got mail" and after about the sixth one saying "Hey asshole...you've got mail...if this is the freakin' school people again I'm gonna reboot with a virus and shut this shit down!"...It was murder reading those emails again...The only thing is that I was hoping for somebody to try and claim what another parent had already committed to and start an email battle...Could you imagine..."Oh no that bitch didn't say she's bringing croissants...I already got the buttermilk and flour and I'm not backing down" (I don't know if croissants are made of buttermilk and flour, but it sounds about right)...now, those emails I could handle...I wish someone would have claimed muffins though, because I really have a feeling that they are expecting more along the lines of the "homemade" variet than the Costco brand mega muffins...they seem pretty serious about snack day...I'll probably be baking tomorrow night :)
See Ya'll (spell check is saying ya'll is spelled "y'all" and I kind of agree (due to what an apostrophe means), but I've been living down here for over a year now and it is definitely ya'll)...KC
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