Back to School and What This Means to Me©
Posted: Thursday, August 25, 2011
by Arlene Wright-Correll
http://www.learn-america.com
Having the kids go back to school doesn’t mean much to me anymore except for the fact that I now to pay attention to the school bus that flies up and down a 2 mile section of our winding, hilly road two times a day should I happen to be out driving during the same time it makes its route trip.
However, in the olden days, when we had 5 children marching off to catch those school buses or the two times we lived within walking distance of school it meant a lot, especially to two working parents who also had to get themselves around each morning.
Here were some of our rules that apparently have not had any horrible after-effects on our 5 kids who have grown up to be responsible hard working adults who are now parents themselves.
The parents got up at 5 am and got themselves around to be ready for these really great and normal kids and that included setting our own examples such as making our bed, coming to the table completely dressed and having the breakfast table ready for them.
Rule 1 was everyone got up at 6 am, made their beds, put any dirty clothes in the laundry basket and made it to the breakfast table at 6:30 a.m. and sat down and had a family meal together.
This rule was the result of Title IX and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972is a United Stateslaw, enacted on June 23, 1972, that amended Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2002 it was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, in honor of its principal author Congresswoman Mink, but is most commonly known simply as Title IX. The law states that "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance..."
Why did Title IX have an effect on our family and I sure most of the families in this nation? Simply because at any given time anyone of our children played sports after school and sometimes 3 of them at the same time and that meant that from 1972 until they all left for college this family rarely sat down for a week day dinner meal together for the benefit of family communication and update on whatever we were all doing. Some of these kids never got home until 9 or 10 pm because of sport practice of every kind! Hence, the hard and fast rule that the members of this family had breakfast together at least 5 days a week.
Rule 2 was that if you needed cookies for a bake sale at school or anything like that you had to put it in my appointment book at least 7 days before you needed them or you yourself was doing the night before school emergency baking detail. Our kids became pretty good cooks after a while. One of them even is a professional pastry chef. They also quickly got the message and before long realized they could avoid this last minute baking duty by adhereing to Rule 2.
Rule 3 was that we kept plenty of pre boiled potatoes in the refrigerator along with mini-steaks, pre-cooked bacon for those who desired a heartier breakfast and usually 1 to 3 sons were around the kitchen cooking island making either their own breakfasts or even others. Cereals, milk etc were all out on the table, along with toast, butter, jam and juice by the time they hit the table.
Rule 4 was everyone cleaned up after themselves and put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher.
Rule 5 was if you brown bagged it, or needed lunch money, you had it before you headed out the door. Do not forget your book bag or sports bag or your home work or whatever it was you needed before you either got on the bus or walked to school.
Reading this over it sounds pretty stringent and perhaps it was, but no one left crying, matter of fact there were usually smiling facing around the table and often times there was anywhere from 1 to 4 sleep over kids who participated in this breakfast meal. Our dining room table sat 12!
We are all creatures of habits and it takes 25 to 35 days to create a habit whether it be a good one or a bad one and between 2 to 3 years to break that habit. I often remember, with a smile, getting a letter from our middle son after 13 weeks of the U.S. Army boot camp. It was the mandatory letter the Army makes every solder send home to his or her parents. Fred’s letter was simply a post card that said the following:, “Dear Mom and Dad, I love it here. It’s just like home!”
"Tread the Earth Lightly" and in the meantime...
May your day be filled with...
Peace, Light and Love,
Arlene Wright-Correll
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