What Are We Preparing Our Kids For?

I just had an interesting conversation with some Moms at swim practice & it made me start wondering about a few things.

With all of the specialized school selections & curriculum choices, are we preparing our kids for the real world? If you can choose a program/school that's totally tailored to your kids' needs then what do they do when they get out of school & have to get a job in a place where their needs are overshadowed by the needs of the company/boss/coworkers, etc.

I recently had a conversation with a woman I did not know that was switching her child from a public school to a private school due to what she claimed was a bullying issue that she felt was not handled by the school. I happen to know some of the teachers at the school & was surprised that they had not dealt with a child being bullied. They told me that if there had been a bullying issue that parent's child would have been the actual bully & that the child was very eccentric & would have trouble whichever school they attended. Such a different perspective than the one I got from the Mom. That's actually why I followed up because the whole story just did not make sense. I guess as Moms we want to see our child in the best light but do we do them favors when we make excuses or place blame?

My son is just getting ready to begin Kindergarten in the fall at a public school ~ albeit a small public school with very involved parents ~ so I'm just pondering the schooling issue.

My friend brought up a fantastic point today about kids that go to private schools are only exposed to other kids whose parents can afford/choose to send them to private schools & not to a huge variety of kids. That, in my opinion, makes them less prepared for the "real world."

I make my world fit me as much as I possibly can but I know that there are things I don't like about it that I have to assimilate to & deal with. I just hope my son will find the same balance I have found. I hope I'm preparing him for his future. For a successful future.

I guess my gripe is that we seem to be kind of making it too easy on kids.

When I was growing up you had to make the team. And if you weren't that great you had to sit on the bench. Not everyone got to play unless you had a huge lead & could afford to let the second string players take a turn.

I don't think it's that way anymore. If I was second string my parents wouldn't have complained to the coach that it wasn't fair that I wasn't getting to play. They would have told me to work harder, to practice, to get better so that I could play more.

I think today the coaches let everyone play. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I think I believe in work harder, practice, get better. But I'm also super protective & am not sure if I could keep the proper perspective on my son's abilities to not ask the coach why he's not playing more if it were to happen. Hopefully the coach could give me feedback on what to work on & we'd make those improvements if we could. I hope I keep this perspective as we move forward.

Rambling, I know, but that's how my mind goes.

Have a great day!