Helicopter Parenting

In 4th and 5th grade, Doodle brought home mid-term reports that showed her grades on all the assignments, tests, etc. in the quarter to date. These reports had to be signed by a parent and returned to school. Some teachers only sent them home if a student's grade was C or lower (as a warning sign; Doodle never got one of those), but other teachers sent them home for every child. This year I'm experiencing the turbo charged, souped up middle school reporting system--and I have some concerns about it.

I can go online 24-7 to check on Doodle's homework assignments as well as her grades on quizzes, tests, and other assignments. I also receive e-mail messages prompting me to check when a grade is posted. There aren't too many grades posted yet, but thus far Doodle has 100 percent in everything, mostly spelling, math, and science quizzes. I haven't logged on in a few days, so I just checked and found that there is no math homework tonight because they are doing an in-class project (maybe we'll have time to go shopping for cleats; the ones that I bought a month ago are already too small--this kid's feet never grow that fast).

Oops, that tangent was a bit too long. I don't want to be policing Doodle's schoolwork this closely, but it's hard to resist when the data is so easily available. I want Doodle to take responsibility for tracking her homework assignments and making sure they are complete. She does a good job of turning in all her assignments on time without a need for me to nag, but if she wasn't, I would rather that she suffer a few consequences at school than have me looking closely over her shoulder. I'm not going to be in the room when she's 19 and has a major term paper to complete. By middle school, I think kids should be responsible enough to do their work without hovering parents. When Doodle was younger, I would pack up her homework and special projects in her backpack, making sure everything was complete. In the past year or two, she has taken on this job. I think I'll be walking a fine line this year if I find information that concerns me in the data reporting system.

This year Doodle has begun setting her alarm clock and getting up on her own (last year I practically had to drag her out of bed). This morning the alarm didn't go off, so I was the back up (she woke up so easily that I didn't even have to sing her special wake up song). I think I'll view my schoolwork role as a back-up one. I'll be there to help get things back on track if Doodle's responsibility alarm doesn't go off. I hope I spend most of the year on the sidelines.

The Circle Game

And the seasons they go round and round (as Joni Mitchell so eloquently sings).The soccer season has begun again. Doodle played in a tournament over Labor Day weekend, only to have her first regular season game postponed because of poor field conditions. I'm in awe of Doodle's leg span and her determination to get the ball in the top photo. Tootle did get to play on Saturday, and she played fiercely--scoring three of her team's eight goals.

First Day of School

Tootle has new shoes to match her spunky attitude. Doodle is a bus patrol this year. Both girls have their BFFs in their homeroom class. Life is good.

Gem Mining

Doodle is a rock hound, so we spent our August vacation fulfilling one of her dreams: gem mining in North Carolina. We began our geology-themed vacation with a stop at Luray Caverns in Virginia. Both girls were in awe of the caverns' beauty and enjoyed listening to the self-guided tour on tape. The next day we arrived at our destination and quickly went to the mine for an exploratory visit. The mine's web site boosts that you can find 70 different gems there, and we probably found half of the possible gems in our buckets of mine ore that we ran through the sluiceway over two days. We didn't have much luck finding gems in the mine's creek and opted not to go in to the mine to dig due to pesky sinus infections that three of us were recovering from and the fact that no one seemed to be having much luck digging. Among our finds were emeralds, amethyst, garnet, topaz, citrine, smoky quartz, rose quartz, clear quartz, tourmaline, and other pretty rocks too numerous to identify. We got very dirty and ruined a few old shirts, but we had a blast.

Tootle isn't as knowledgeable as Doodle about the various types of gems, but her interest in the subject has intensified and she is particularly proud of a large nicely shaped piece of quartz that she found. Doodle loved all of her finds, especially the emeralds and amethyst. I'm having emerald necklaces made for both girls with the best of our gems, and we can't wait to see them. Today is the second day of school and Doodle has already written an entry in her science journal about the trip. I predict that both girls will have other occasions to write and talk about this trip during the school year. We didn't strike it rich, but we did make rich memories.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Camouflage

This morning I glanced out the window and noticed that the black eyed susans were swaying even though there was no breeze. I grabbed my camera and with the aid of the zoom lens I was able to see the cause. A finch was enjoying the glorious flowers. He blends in rather well.

15 Seconds of Fame

The girls and I went to Nationals Park last Saturday for a blood donation drive. I had scheduled an appointment and expected to go in and out quickly. It ended up taking more than 3 hours because of the size of the crowd ready and willing to donate. In that time, we scored four hats autographed by pitcher Jordan Zimmerman (right before he found out that he needs surgery that will keep him out of the lineup for more than a year), a t-shirt, and two tickets to a future game. The girls and I watched the groundskeepers prep the field for that evening's game and the girls saw batting practice. The picture above is on the National's blog. Doodle is thrilled to have 15 seconds of fame; Tootle glanced at the photo and walked away. I spent Sunday doing all the errands that I didn't have time for on Saturday, but it was worth it.