Today is the first time I have ever watched one of my children get on a yellow school bus. When people were awed that I homeschooled four kids, I used to tell them homeschooling wasn't much different than doing homework together. I take that back. It's one thing to be a cog in the great …
Tag: Parenting
P is for Paul, Katae’s Paul
I used to think I was open-minded. Then I had teenagers. And they were... let's just say their tastes veered into the eccentric. My kids, my first two, simply would not play by the rules. And by rules I meant wearing dresses and liking it, using utensils at formal dinners, begging to sing in the …
I Wish I Could Be…
Imagine this. My six-year-old wearing his fuzzy pj's makes this imperious proclamation: "I wish I could be public schooled so I wouldn't have to walk all the way to the kitchen to get my rods." Those rods, to which he referred, were little color-coded blocks that enabled him to learn his fractions and multiplication tables …
Frankenstein’s Teenager
Mary Shelley's classic, Frankenstein, is really an allegory. It's the parenting memoir she couldn't write. Parents of pubescents... follow me. Victor builds what he hopes will be a beautiful, incredible masterpiece. He works tirelessly on his legacy. So intent on accomplishing his ends, Frankenstein doesn't ask, "Should I?" Sounds like many parents I know who …
T is for Tory
Tory was an easy baby, the easiest child, the hardest teenager. I think each phase caused the next. You see, Tory was so breathtakingly sweet that losing her to the atmosphere was that much more bitter. By atmosphere, I mean adolescence. When a rocket re-enters earth, there is a gap in communication while it makes …
Don’t Forget: The Bird Died
Death makes you think things. Like, even if you're beautiful and cerulean-flashy and you have wings, your end will come. Beauty won't stave the grim reaper, much as we'd like to believe. Still, I always thought a pair of wings would be super. That way, when life got dicey, I could just fly away. Hawks …
What You Give to Get “Amazing”
Gabe. 10 years old. He’s amazing. That’s how the pain and hardship begin, when someone besides mom utters the seemingly innocuous words: You’re amazing. My amazing boy practices swimming with kids a minimum of three years his senior. When he was with kids his age, swimming practice started at 10AM. But his amazing asserted itself, and …
Smoking The Core
Did you know I'm a principal? It's true, according to the Ohio Department of Education. By way of explanation, there are two ways to legally home educate in Ohio. One of them is to become your own school, so to speak. We mavericks are called 08 schools: non-chartered, non-tax supported schools, which are granted autonomy …
Car Wars: Driving Through the Dark Side
Rated R for Rant. 7:05. Wake up and drive Katae to Berea Courthouse for her internship. Well, she drives there. I drink my joe. 8:30. Get home. Have 2nd cup of coffee and read Bible, eat breakfast, read emails, yell at kids. 10:00-11:00. Take boys to the orthodontist where we try to get school done. …
My Sister’s Response When I Bemoaned my Consumer Status
Recently I tried to get a "real job." Not that what I do right now isn't work. But most of what I do is pro bono, gratis, charity-- you know, housework. A too-good-to-be-true opportunity came my way, so I dropped everything summer and spent five hours updating my 20-year-old resume. I somehow managed to …
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KL Griffiths 