Preschool started for us a couple weeks ago. By “us,” I mean my kids started school—obviously I’m not in preschool. If I was, it wouldn’t be so bad. Because it’s preschool.
Right now, school is all about rules and boundaries and fine motor skills. But, soon it’ll be about geography and geometry, which have no place in our home except for the shape of things. Really, how often do you have to figure out the area of your dining room table mirror?
With this transition into preschool, the reality of having to do school ALL over again hit me like a baseball bat to the throat—velocity and force unknown, as I forget the formulas because high school was a lifetime ago. The exact same homework. A second time. I was bad enough at math when I was 12. I’m almost 36 now and still get nervous when I have to use 3/4 of a cup of flour and can only find the 1/2 cup and a crumpled pile of muffin tins.
Just because I’m older doesn’t mean I have the intelligence, ability, or interest in algebra. The worst part is knowing that in my whole life, I’ve only ever had to evaluate [7 – (4 – 3(7 – 2) + 6)] on math tests. Grocery shopping doesn’t look like that. Ever. If it did, my family would be pretty malnourished.
This school business is going to be tough. Not for my kids, but me. I already did this once before. When I graduated college I washed my hands of homework. I don’t recall this school business being a part of the: “So you want to have a baby contract.” It was it in the fine print, wasn’t it? The stuff no one reads in between: “No sleep for 12 years” and “teaching toddlers to share?”
I’m sure there are many facets of parenting I haven’t even started scratching the surface of yet. Facets that will require me reliving many other areas of my own childhood, with the hope to create a better outcome. After all, with kids you get two childhoods for the price of one…or maybe it’s for the price of two.
See?
Math. Ugh.
Christina lives in Denver with her husband and two daughters. She’s been featured on the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, Scary Mommy, What the Flicka and recently added: “first-place winner in the 2013 Boulder Writers’ Workshop Comedy Writing Contest,” to her list of accomplishments—it’s above changing a diaper with only one hand and answering the same question 147 times in a single minute. You can follow her third pregnancy journey over at Pregnancy & Newborn’s Knocked Up Blog or find her rambling on The Mediocre Housewife.
Author: Christina Antus
Amber Johnson
Here’s the funny thing: I loved school and did well. What I do not love: being unable to help my kids. Things are taught so differently and when you become a new mom, you don’t envision homework and power struggles. It is one of the few things I will NOT miss about parenting when they are grown.
Christina
And I thought potty training was hard.