A Mom's "Back-To-School" Myths

I stole this from my friend Linda because it was just too funny not to.

Misconception Number 1: Moms miss their kids when they go back to school.

Seriously? I’ve had enough of you by now. Every morning with the “what are we going to do today, Mom?” is finally over. I’ve had looked at your face twenty-four seven for the last 77 days. It’s time to go learn something. No more asking me about the pool, when is the next snack or if you can stay up late and watch a movie. It’s over….You’re going back to Hogwarts and I get to have a life again. There is a Christmas morning for parents and it’s called “back to school”. In one word, back to school means quiet. No more fighting, no more running in and out of the house, and most importantly, I get to watch something other than Spongebob and iCarly for a few hours.

Misconception Number 2: Moms like to go school shopping.

Are you freaking kidding me? Why do I pay taxes?…so I can rack up a 200 dollar bill at Staples for crap that we have laying around my house in junk drawers. Why does it have to be new pencils? What’s wrong with the chewed up, broken strawberry shortcake pencils sitting in the bottom of the toy box for the last 6 months? And how many subject books can you possibly need? What happened to reading, writing and arithmetic? If they added a couple of things for parents to that list I wouldn’t mind so much….why not pencils, erasers and vodka …..or some Nyquil. Honestly, I don't mind it. Luckily for me I have a child that is really in to arts and crafts so I can't remember the last time I've had to buy supplies for school. We already have what would amount to several boxes of pencils on hand along with erasers and glue sticks. And I have no problem with taking a handful of crayons, putting them in a ziploc bag, and labeling it with my child's name. Hey, a crayon is a crayon, right? Shoot, I even used the two pocket folders that were used last year. I have yet to meet such an anal-retentive teacher that says everything has to be new.

Misconception Number 3: Moms like back to school night.

Why must we do this every year? I got it already. You’re the teacher…I’m the parent. My kid is either going to be smart or dumb. If he gets a certain number or colored dot on his discipline chart, he can’t get a prize from the prize box. Pretty simple stuff. Listen, I’m pretty old school. If he doesn’t listen to you…you can throw something at him. I don’t care. But I got a lot of work to do at home and I’m paying a babysitter right now. Plus, I’m pretty sure you are going to assign some project on wigwams made by some Indian tribe I’ve never heard of, so I need to get home and start my research. So, I got it. We’re all here for the betterment of the kids. Blah Blah Blah. Can I leave now? I actually do like back to school night. This gives me the opportunity to meet my daughter's teacher and let him/her know what to expect. As a parent of a child with special needs, back to school night is an absolute MUST.

Misconception Number 4: Moms like school paperwork.

How many trees are you planning on killing to tell me the same stuff I had to pay a babysitter to listen to the other night? You know our name, where we live and our emergency phone numbers. He doesn’t have a nickname….call him “stinkbutt” for all I care. We don’t have any “special circumstances” that you need to know about. He lives in a home with two parents who may or may not like each other at any given time and they will fight. If that qualifies as a reason he can’t get his homework done on time then he won’t be able to function as an adult and have a real job so you may want to “educate” him on that life lesson. Seriously, why don't they put everything in a computer? To have to fill out the novel that is required every year is just plain ridiculous. I'm not looking forward to next year when I have to fill everything out twice. And let's prioritize about what you need to know about my child. Allergies, yes. Whether or not their parents smoke, no.

Misconception Number 5: Moms like covering books in that annoying sticky paper.

What exactly will you be doing with these books that I have to cover them in a plastic laminate? Do you often teach in the rain? Or while the children are drinking soda and eating soup? Do you know how long that takes? Has any parent in the history of education been able to do it without any air bubbles in it? From now on I’m covering it the old way…brown paper bags. That way I can cover the books and pack their lunches at that same time. Who says moms can’t multitask?
PS. Please tell my son if he can’t find his lunch to look in his science book. So far I've gotten lucky and not had to do this... yet.

Misconception Number 6: Moms like helping you with your homework.

What? I am scared out of my mind. I’m pretty sure that I forgot everything I learned in fifth grade by the time I was in sixth grade. I have no idea what you are talking about most days. I don’t really know my 12 times tables, I read the cliff notes to all your summer reading and I don’t know how to conjugate anything but I do know that song “conjunction junction what’s your function” if that helps at all. And please don’t even say the words “new math” to me. What the heck was wrong the old one? No one hates homework more than me. Scratch that.... Jorden hates it more. We spend on average about 3 hours a night on homework which under any circumstances is NOT OKAY for a second or third grader. This is what happens when your child has a teacher that just doesn't give a damn that it's way out of her league. And nothing burns my britches about homework more than when teachers send it home with little or no instruction on what to do and expect the child to remember the instructions by the time they get home. When a parent is on the phone with another parent for upwards of 30 minutes trying to figure it out, something ain't right.

Misconception Number 7: Moms can’t wait to pack your lunch every day until we die.

I hate doing laundry. Making dinner every night is the bane of my existence, so making your lunch every day for an entire year, in terms of “mom fun”, lies somewhere between brushing plaque off the dogs teeth and scheduling my annual pap smear. Listen, as a child I hated what my mom packed me for lunch. But, like every kid before me, and every generation to come you will find a kid to trade with…I’m sure someone likes sardines. I bitch and complain about packing lunches and then I remember how much the school lunch costs ($3.15!) and then I'm okay with making Jorden a ham sandwich. But this year we actually qualified for free lunch (yay!) so that's about $60 a month that I'll save on drink boxes, bread, ham, cheese, and individually wrapped goodies for her lunch.

Misconception Number 8: Moms love after-school activities.

I don’t know who made up this idea of organized clubs and sports but they should be the ones in charge of carting your butt around. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against all after school programs. I just wish they would offer it during hours that would work best for me so that dinner wasn’t at 8:30 at night followed by 4 hours of homework. Why not do it on the weekends and call it “after-hours activities” so mommy and daddy could actually go out one night and pretend that we have a life of our own. Don’t worry about us though I’m sure that me and “what’s his name” will be married a very long time. I don't mind after school activities. We have swimming and Girl Scouts so I can't complain too much. The only thing I hate is that these activities infringe on homework time so that means my child will be going to bed later because she has to complete the homework that she can't do to begin with.

Misconception Number 9: Moms don’t mind taking you to school if you miss the bus.

Your bus comes at 7:10 am….which means that you should be standing by the door at 7:05 am. Not eating breakfast, chasing the dog around the house or in the bathroom, asking me to check your homework while I’m taking a shower. Get it together! I don’t like running down the street in my jammies at 7:12 screaming “Please wait” or “If you stop I’ll show you my boobies.” Ah, I live a block and a half away from the school. So my kiddos walk to school. Although I do remember having to wake up early just to brave the 30 minute drive to shuffle my child all the way across town to school. Yeah, I'm glad those days are over!

Misconception Number 10: Moms cry on your first day of school.

We do cry but they are tears of joy. I have done my job. I have successfully kept a human child alive for at least 5 years without doing any major damage. Motherhood is the hardest job in the world!! Sure, doctors save lives and CEO’s run million dollar businesses but…you teach a kid not to poop their pants and then you can say you’ve made the world a better place.” Really?? Parents actually cry when their kids go back? Hell, I cry when my kids come home!