Articles in School days
I’m confused. Genuinely perplexed, as opposed to the fake puzzlement I sometimes try to pull on the guys. As in, “I just don’t understand why you thought it was a good idea to cut gaping …
Just as sure as someone’s going to be selling a box of crayons for a quarter every August, you can mark the annual bashing of American students on your calendar in the vicinity of Labor …
He trundled to the bus stop less than a football field’s length from our back door, waddling slightly from the balk of a backpack a tad to big for him. He clutched a sheath of …
I was there for the preparation but had to leave before the feast began, so I was curious to hear Big Guy’s reaction to the lunch that was part of his end-of-school party.
“Oh. My. God,” …
With no outward warning signs, he buried his face in his arms and started crying. These were no delicate sobs, but chest-wracking heaves.
“What’s wrong?” his teacher asked.
“It’s the end of school, and I’ll never see …
Mom’s Two Commandments of Summer: Thou shalt stay out of my hair in the mornings so I can work, and thou shalt read and like it.
It’s a given that the first is not going to …
The invitation set my snarkometer into overdrive when the teachers handed it to us that morning.
Preschool graduation. 4 p.m., May 19. Complete with a “commencement address.” It had all the markings of a big to-do, …
There are two gray plastic bins in the garage, each roughly 2×2×2. I bought them several years ago, to preserve the guys’ keepsakes. Important stuff such as the first outfits they wore and their first …
There is not gravity on the moon. You can flot up in the rocket. The gravity can lif you.
It is not strong gravity. The moon have a slick gravity. Gravity is not hot air. Astonots …
Dear Mom,
I love you! Happy Mothr’s Day! I love it when you clim the montin. Have a special day! I like it when we ride bikes.
Love,
Big Guy
(All misspellings are by the author. Not that the Web master does much better on any given day.)
If i had a thing I would cich it.
I would take the kite away fron him.
If the thing …
A funny thing happened on the way to the White House.
As he “researched” information for his first-ever report – one page on a historical site, with a picture from which he could create a drawing …
Forget all the discussion about where we’re going to live when Dad gets out of the Army. As far as I’m concerned, it’s settled. We are moving to Madera County.
Yes, that Madera County, the one …
It’s not been quite a week, but the great ca-nation experiment is dead as the green flower flopping over the side of the bottle.
Big Guy still blames me, and he’s right that we did leave …
Even Boots can see the beginning of the end now. The blooms aren’t as full as they were, and the red flower is brown around the edges.
“Why, Mommy? The ones at school are still giant …
California sent out tens of thousands of layoff notices to teachers last year, and by the time this spring’s are tallied the total will be similar.
The state’s scores on a national test were higher than …
Green is very late to the party – still barely showing up in fact – and Big Guy is starting to take that personally. Green, you see, is his favorite color, and the fact …
Ah, here comes yellow. The color isn’t as wide-spread as on the red and blue, but it looks really cool. I’m not a big fan of yellow, but I have to admit it makes the …
Though yellow had taken the early lead at school, at home red and blue quickly pulled out in front at home in our flowers-and-food-coloring experiment. I wondered if the flowers were picking up on vibes …
From the same fun folks who brought you Chia Cam – the plants are all now officially dead, by the way – we introduce Ca-nation Cam. It’s the science project that was so much fun …
It’s a math drill with no flash cards!
It’s exercise without leaving the patio!
And it’s also an idea I blatantly stole from Parents Math Night at Big Guy’s school – but, hey, there’s nothing wrong with …
It started out ugly yesterday afternoon, but it ended with a peace accord that made all sides happy.
Big Guy and a friend from school were playing tag at a park when another kid came along …
Life was so much simpler when I was in school. History texts focused on presenting facts – and back then, a fact was a fact was a fact.
Today, though, there are some who think the …
Where does “protest” end and “publicity stunt” begin?
With PETA and its propensity to station costumed characters in high-traffic public places – always making sure the media are aware of the big news- it’s hard to …
I’m certain it was the bright-blue goggle-eyed pug on the cover that drew Big Guy’s attention. The fact that I was trying to steer him to what I thought was more age-appropriate reading material – …
It was, admittedly, a new take on the old “these kids and their short attention spans and self-absorbed natures are ruining the world” spiel.
Instead, a British education union leader blamed a culture of “instant gratification,” …
We’ve read the books, and we’ve eaten the cake at the library. That’s all old Cat in the Hat now. What else could we do to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday and Read Across America, I …
It’s unfortunate that the AFL-CIO did its job today and jumped into fray in a Rhode Island district that’s firing the entire staff at the low-performing Central Falls High School.
Unfortunate because that gives more ammo …
When we last left Big Guy, his big mouth was causing problems at school on a daily basis. It’s a seasonal issue for him that’s going to crop up just as sure as the teacher …
Every time Big Guy’s class has a substitute teacher, his regular one says she’ll get a report about their behavior from her “spies” when she gets back.
She’s joking. In a certain school district in suburban …
Take one over-sized wall map of the United States.
Add quick sheets filled with random information about various states.
Combine with a boy’s passion for racing, stir with a DryErase marker and marinate for 36 events over …
Valentine’s Day has been canceled according to Boots’ school, which should save a few relationships that normally would shatter in the “I don’t want to buy a present” pre-holiday breakup rush.
Don’t breathe that sigh of …
I get that some parents are a total pain in the rear. I’m sure I am at times, though I try hard not to be.
And I know that a sarcastic diatribe can be cathartic.
Unless, of …
I did a double cringe when the Valentine’s Day note came home this week from Big Guy’s school: “Due to food allergies, please do not send any candy, cupcakes or food items.”
The first cringe came …
Back in the day – yes, the day when we had to walk four miles to school, uphill both ways – snow days held a certain mysterious romance.
We’d watch the flakes start to fall the …
I don’t know Paul Gibson from Adam. I have no idea if he’s white, black, green or purple. I don’t know if he’s liberal or conservative.
But I do know that if his take on a …
Note to school officials in Dearborn, Mich: Teens do stupid things. Incredibly stupid things that at times demonstrate a stunning lack of awareness of history.
And something that happened in 2001 is indeed history to today’s …
Big Guy had big news just before the holidays. He’d been promoted to the hot-pink dots under the school library color-coded system for deciphering reading levels, meaning he now was allowed to check out “chapter …
There’s often a reason why Big Guy does the seemingly quirky things he does. A reason that makes sense only in his 5-year-old brain, but a reason nonetheless.
I usually don’t question, because if it’s genuinely ...
Parties in the park seem to be the rage around here of late – a rage that will be over by the time Big Guy’s birthday rolls around in 103-degree July – and today’s was ...
