To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Monday, August 16, 2004
For Whom the (School) Bell Tolls
It tolls for T1 and T2. Tonight was open house, and tomorrow morning school begins again. My babies will be "BMOC" this year- their last year of elementary school. Then it's off to middle school.
Last year we home schooled, which was awesome. But that means the boys are a little out of practice on how "school" works. Last year, they could do their math work on the couch, and their reading up in their room. For some reason, I think the teachers will frown on them sprawling on the floor to get their work done. Oh, well...
A couple of observations as the school year starts. First, why do the girls look so much more mature than the boys? And the girls are cuties, too. My boys claim that they're not old enough to care yet. Can't say I believe them. Not completely, anyway.
Second, the Texas Department of Agriculture updated their nutritional guidelines for school. Because of that, my kids can't take cupcakes to school for their birthday to share with their class. And they can't bring "cakes, cookies, or other sweets" for snack time. And they can't share their bad-for-you goodies if they pack them in their lunch. Geeezzzz...
I know WHY they're doing this, and I almost think it's a good idea. They believe that they need to help combat childhood obesity by providing a healthy environment for school kids. Works for me. Saying "no yum yums in school" isn't gonna help much. Hmmm... Maybe if you teach this generation of children about healthy YUMMY food choices and the detriments of obesity and the benefits of exercise, then they'll make wise choices and buy fruit for THEIR kids instead of candy bars and chef salads instead of Happy Meals. A cupcake 5x a year for a classmate's birthday isn't gonna tip a kid's scale- a lifetime of learned poor eating behavior will.
And another thing... telling a kid "sweets are bad" are a good way to get some kids to pig out on them. Telling an adolescent that anything is verboten is the easiest way to get them hooked on it. Case in point- drinking. Growing up, I was taught that alcohol in itself was not evil, just the excessive use of it. I learned from my dad the fine art of nursing one drink for the evening. When I went off to college, yup, I drank. But I can count on one hand the number of times I've been truly drunk IN MY LIFE. On the other hand, my hubby was told that drinking alcohol was wrong, excess or not. So, he goes off and joins the Navy, and guess what? He drank himself silly for a while (even got smashed in front of my parents once, but that's a story for another day). So, can anyone guess what we're teaching our kids about alcohol? That a glass of wine can be the perfect addition to a meal, that a bratwurst begs for a beer to make it a complete meal, and a margarita can be a work of art. And that drinking in excess is stupid for all the obvious reasons (DUIs, drunk driving deaths, damage to liver and other body parts, plain old acting dumb, making poor choices under the influence, etc.)
What do we teach the boys about eating? Eating cake every day isn't very smart, but a nice slice of cake out to eat or for a birthday or special occasion is awesome. Nope, you can't have cookies for lunch, but you can have a couple after lunch. Before you can have a baggy of cheetos, you need to eat some fruit. Did you drink your milk today? If not, then no soda or Kool-Aid. You have to eat your veggies as well as the protein. The important thing is that WE teach our kids that, not the school (which can be a help). No matter what the school does, if Mom and Dad are only buying junk ("'cause Lil Jimmy won't eat anything else") then the kid's gonna end up overweight and in poor health. (Yeah, I know there are a lot of other factors, but I'm trying to keep it simple. Work with me here, people!) And, I'm sorry, but if all there is in the house is good-for-you munchies, the kid won't starve.
Well, enough about food. Back to school. I'm gonna miss having my kids around all the time. That was fun. But they're going to have fun, once they get in the middle of it. They're in different classrooms, but each has a boy from their football team in the room with them. And, they'll be the big fish in the little pond, taking on responsibility. And it's not like I won't be busy- I've volunteered to be room mom for both classes. Big fun !!!
Last year we home schooled, which was awesome. But that means the boys are a little out of practice on how "school" works. Last year, they could do their math work on the couch, and their reading up in their room. For some reason, I think the teachers will frown on them sprawling on the floor to get their work done. Oh, well...
A couple of observations as the school year starts. First, why do the girls look so much more mature than the boys? And the girls are cuties, too. My boys claim that they're not old enough to care yet. Can't say I believe them. Not completely, anyway.
Second, the Texas Department of Agriculture updated their nutritional guidelines for school. Because of that, my kids can't take cupcakes to school for their birthday to share with their class. And they can't bring "cakes, cookies, or other sweets" for snack time. And they can't share their bad-for-you goodies if they pack them in their lunch. Geeezzzz...
I know WHY they're doing this, and I almost think it's a good idea. They believe that they need to help combat childhood obesity by providing a healthy environment for school kids. Works for me. Saying "no yum yums in school" isn't gonna help much. Hmmm... Maybe if you teach this generation of children about healthy YUMMY food choices and the detriments of obesity and the benefits of exercise, then they'll make wise choices and buy fruit for THEIR kids instead of candy bars and chef salads instead of Happy Meals. A cupcake 5x a year for a classmate's birthday isn't gonna tip a kid's scale- a lifetime of learned poor eating behavior will.
And another thing... telling a kid "sweets are bad" are a good way to get some kids to pig out on them. Telling an adolescent that anything is verboten is the easiest way to get them hooked on it. Case in point- drinking. Growing up, I was taught that alcohol in itself was not evil, just the excessive use of it. I learned from my dad the fine art of nursing one drink for the evening. When I went off to college, yup, I drank. But I can count on one hand the number of times I've been truly drunk IN MY LIFE. On the other hand, my hubby was told that drinking alcohol was wrong, excess or not. So, he goes off and joins the Navy, and guess what? He drank himself silly for a while (even got smashed in front of my parents once, but that's a story for another day). So, can anyone guess what we're teaching our kids about alcohol? That a glass of wine can be the perfect addition to a meal, that a bratwurst begs for a beer to make it a complete meal, and a margarita can be a work of art. And that drinking in excess is stupid for all the obvious reasons (DUIs, drunk driving deaths, damage to liver and other body parts, plain old acting dumb, making poor choices under the influence, etc.)
What do we teach the boys about eating? Eating cake every day isn't very smart, but a nice slice of cake out to eat or for a birthday or special occasion is awesome. Nope, you can't have cookies for lunch, but you can have a couple after lunch. Before you can have a baggy of cheetos, you need to eat some fruit. Did you drink your milk today? If not, then no soda or Kool-Aid. You have to eat your veggies as well as the protein. The important thing is that WE teach our kids that, not the school (which can be a help). No matter what the school does, if Mom and Dad are only buying junk ("'cause Lil Jimmy won't eat anything else") then the kid's gonna end up overweight and in poor health. (Yeah, I know there are a lot of other factors, but I'm trying to keep it simple. Work with me here, people!) And, I'm sorry, but if all there is in the house is good-for-you munchies, the kid won't starve.
Well, enough about food. Back to school. I'm gonna miss having my kids around all the time. That was fun. But they're going to have fun, once they get in the middle of it. They're in different classrooms, but each has a boy from their football team in the room with them. And, they'll be the big fish in the little pond, taking on responsibility. And it's not like I won't be busy- I've volunteered to be room mom for both classes. Big fun !!!
