I Was An Emotional Prostitute Part 24

I was able to quit work just before Caleb turned five years old. The timing couldn’t have been better. I had to either renew my child care support through welfare or lose it. I also had two weeks left, which was the amount of notice I needed to give the daycare. I gave notice at all the temp agencies I’d been working for and at the daycare.

Being at home all day was a major adjustment. I went from having to get up, get us both ready for the day, then run out the door to take him to daycare before I caught the bus to work to getting up when we felt like it and then spending the day together. I had never understood just how hard stay - at - home - moms work till I had nothing more to do all day than take care of the house, fix meals and watch over an active little boy.

It was summer, so I could take him to a local park up the street, which helped, but we couldn’t spend every day there. I hate to admit this, but part of me was glad when school started. I honestly didn’t know how to be a mom. I remember my mother working when we were growing up. The only times I remember her spending any one on one time with us was if we ran errands with her alone. So, being home all day with a little boy was a new experience.

When Caleb went to Kindergarten, I got a bit of a surprise. He came home with a big sheet of things to do each day after school for the first month. I was surprised. I mean, when did they start assigning homework? And in Kindergarten? When I was in school, homework was work you didn’t finish in class. I figured things had changed and the homework didn’t seem too bad, so we did our best.

By the time he was in second grade I had learned that if you can homeschool, it’s actually better for your children. So, I did some checking into what it takes to homeschool in my state. As it turns out, I already qualified because of my college degree. I knew however, that I needed to learn more about how to best homeschool, so I found a program that was a lot of assigned reading, then writing your thoughts about what you read.

The program was a mix of Christian/Christ centered materials as well as books about education, what it is and isn’t, so it looked like a good fit for me. Add in to that the fact that there were no classes to attend. I could do everything when I had time, then when I was finished I could either fax everything to the woman running the program or mail it to her.

I finished most of the materials before I started homeschooling, but there were a few things I didn’t finish and at this point am not sure I will. What I did read, however was enlightening. I learned that education as we know it is an artificial construct and it extends childhood beyond what was once considered normal. I also learned that assigned homework isn’t good for our children. After spending six or seven hours a day sitting in a classroom, they need to be free to run around and play after school.

So, armed with that information, I homeschooled Caleb during his third grade year. I was unable to keep him busy enough as an only child, so he ended up hating it. He went back to public school at the start of fourth grade. Thankfully, he had a great teacher that year. When I talked to her about not sending assigned homework with him, she was fine with it.

In fifth and sixth grade, he had the same teacher for both years. When I talked to her about not sending assigned homework, she disagreed with me. I went to the principle who told me that homework was expected. I thought that was odd, so I got online and checked the school district’s website. From what I read, it looked like homework was optional, but I wasn’t sure. I e-mailed the district and they confirmed that homework was optional.

At that point, I got mad at the principal and went back to him. When I saw him I told him that I didn’t appreciate being lied to. He asked what he’d lied about. I told him about looking things up then contacting the district in regards to homework. He pulled out a notebook and showed me the policy he’d based his opinion on. It was different than the one on the website. I asked what was on the previous page. The current policy was there and since both had dates on them, I could point to the date on the current one and tell him that it being newer superseded the one he’d quoted me. That settled that. I know he talked to Caleb’s teacher as he had no more homework for the rest of his time there.

I did get a note in his report card letting me know that she hadn’t appreciated me going to the principal about homework. When I read it, I thought, “What did you expect? You refused my request. Besides, you don’t have ultimate responsibility for him. I do.”

There was one other thing his teacher from those years and I disagreed about. Caleb complained that during “Free Choice Reading Time” his teacher wanted him to read “serious” books, not comic books. I walked over and talked to her about it. She said, “What do I tell the other kids if I allow him to read comics, but not them?”

I said, “Make me the bad guy. Tell them that I came over and insisted that Caleb be allowed to read whatever he chooses during that time.”

When he moved on to middle school/junior high, I made it clear that I couldn’t go around to all six of his teachers and ask them not to assign homework. He was fine with that. The same thing applied to high school.

He’s now an adult living on his own and I’m very proud of him.