The big blizzard may not have hit us, but we woke up to plenty of snow Saturday. And of course, Cal loves playing in the “nooo!”
Oliver was disappointed he couldn’t go out too, but he has a cold still, so he stayed inside with me and played.
He’ll be ready to play in the snow next year at this time.
This weeks ADM Blog Hop Entry (remember, anyone can play, just click the McLinky link at the end of this post):
Fred and I have talked about this a lot. While there are definitely a few things that we do not want to repeat with our kids, we both have great stories from our childhoods about special traditions and things that our parents did with or for us. We will continue with many traditions, both for special occasions and everyday instances, that we remember with fondness from our childhoods. We also plan on using some of the same teaching methods that stick in our minds today; like the time my dad deflated my car tire and emptied my car of oil – I learned to change the flat and change the oil in my car…skills every girl needs! Fred is adamant about always following through on his word, just as his mom did; even if it means sticking to a seemingly unfair punishment.
In this post, I’m going to focus on one thing that, now that I’m older and wiser (wink wink), has really made an impact on my view of life and education.
When I was younger I was not the perfect student (shocker, I know!). I would do anything to get out of homework, especially math homework! But my dad was a real stickler about getting things done and doing them right. He was constantly looking over my shoulder and making sure that I not only completed my work, but that I did it correctly. Fred’s parents had similar ideas; Fred had to take practice spelling tests over and over again until he got the majority of them right, even though his spelling is still sketchy 
(Love you Fred!)
My dad also made sure that I did what I was supposed to do in class…from the time I was in kindergarten up until I graduated from high school. In fact, I think he was probably one of the only parents to actually visit teachers during parent-teacher conferences in high school. You could say he was a “helicopter parent” in this respect, but I think it really made a difference. He knew what I was up to and I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to slack off.
In my experiences with the students I work with (and hear about from Fred), this is all too important. I see kids falling behind and getting bad grades because they have no one checking their homework or looking over their shoulders to make sure they are doing what they need to in school. I know that I would not have done any homework or completed many of my assignments if my dad had not been on my case. Thanks to my dad’s nagging, I got a good education and have a great career (or will if I can find a full time job!) and am able to write well enough to make sense in this blog-most of the time anyway.
