Lest I forget...

I wrote this one day while sitting in a class a while back and was reminded of it today.  I shared it with a teacher who told me I should send it to the paper.  I chuckled and figure they wouldn't be interested in it but thought if nothing else I would at least blog it. 

It should be understood that I have a rare perspective of education that not many people are privy to.  I go into teacher's classrooms and interpret and I see the interactions between teachers and students, the discipline/lack of discipline, the interesting/boring, the genius/idiocracy within a classroom from students/teachers.  I have also seen that since No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has been put into action not only have our educational expectations dropped to a staggering gut-wrenching low, but so have our disciplinary expectations, not just in school but across the board. 

So I am likewise reminded of a poem that an old friend, Doris Metts, shared with me many years ago that I printed and gave to my mama.  I am proud to say that I was blessed with one of "The Meanest Mothers In The World" and I can only hope that I am just as mean.  But with times changing there are things that I will add to the list of things to do for mean mothers.  I wrote a similar blog a while back titled: Rules of Engagment. But I figured it was time to add a few more things to the list lest I forget.  That way if you see me doing these things with my children later, I beg you to throw my own words in my face and remind me. 

Lest I forget....

• I will not assume my child is an angel.
• I will not allow my child to dress like a small prostitute. (linked is a MUST READ article!!!)
• I will teach my child that if you intend the keep your teeth you will not smack them at me.
• I will drop into my child's school to observe my child and the teachers. 
• I would prefer to send my child to a private school since I feel that NCLB has lowered standards within the public forum to a ridiculous point that I feel to be insufficient for my child (donations to assist in this endeavor are accepted).
• I will teach my child manners - that they had better use.
• My child will understand that a phone call home from school for a negative reason will result in a whipping when they get home.
• I will teach my child the difference between racism and honesty.
• I will teach my child what sarcasm is, how to understand it, and how to use it - even when it goes right over everyone else head. 
• I will teach my child that becoming pregnant before you are married isn't cool but is a disgrace and embarrassment to the family.  It doesn't mean we don't love you but you should be prepared for the consequences, ridicule, and backlash that will ensue from those who you have disappointed.
• I will teach my child that my house = my rules.  You are otherwise welcome to show yourself to the door or I will happily find you an alternative boarding school (i.e. boot camp or military school).
• I will teach my child that just because your friends have a cell phone doesn't mean that you should.  You can have a cellphone that will dial someone other than your parents when you are able to pay the bill yourself.  (God Bless the person that invented the Firefly).

I am sure that the list will continue to grow and as always I encourage everyone to add their own do's/don'ts to the list or to tell me how I'm lying to myself.  Either way it will make for good reading and/or an interesting debate.