laying a little groundwork

So. Many. Thoughts.

I have so many things jumbling around in my head, and I don’t know where to start! So, I’m just going to start, and hope you are able to follow.

I read a ton of blogs where those brave mothers home school their children. I am not one of those moms. While I likely have the ability to do home schooling, I recognize that I do not have the patience, and as a working mother, I also do not have the time.

I also read many blogs where children are sent to private schools.

I don’t do that, either.

I am the parent of three children who attend our public schools. I am the product of those same public schools. When I was in my early teens, my mother became an employee off, and teacher in, the same said public school system.

And I like our system.

(DON’T LEAVE YET! I know, I know – these are strange statements I am making, but ride this out with me for a little bit!)

I have a choice as a parent, you see. I could do one of those things listed above – home school, private school. I really could. It would require other sacrifices in our family, our lives would be different than they are today, but had we decided to go one of those routes, the opportunities were there for that.

That’s part of what parenting is, you see. A series of decisions that you make with the hope that they are the ones that will best serve your child(ren) over the long haul. And in our home, for our kids, one of those decisions was to embrace, not just attend, but EMBRACE, the public school process.

Over the last 5 years, I’ve gone from one kindergartener and volunteering in the library once a week to three kids in the same building, sitting on the PTO board, maintaining our school’s website, campaigning for a referendum, and being part of a culture that WANTS our kids to succeed. I’ve met people from different buildings, collaborated with other parents across our system, and communicated with our administration. Why? Because we all want the same thing – success for our kids. We have a common goal. We are not enemies.

There are some great things that are coming, and that have been building, in our school system. I’ve been lucky enough to get to see a bit of the inner workings of that process, and I am going to be sharing my thoughts on some of that here. Not right now. (Right now, I need to go to the office before my clients and coworkers kill me!) But soon, and going forward.