Today is Pajama Day at my children's school.
While I, for one, will not spend one cent on buying pajamas for poor children. Pardon me, my charity donations are personal and go where I designate them.
This is a school project, at the outset of Spring when all stores have switched their wardrobe selection to cruise wear, if not summer camp must haves, parents, who are already paying gobs of tuition, are now asked to scour stores looking for warm winter pajamas to donate to the needy.
Do your children actually still wear pajamas? Mine most frequently wear sweat shirts and sweat pants, or other outerwear.
Honestly, I am not sure how Pajama Day got perverted in to a charity drive, I would like to take this opportunity to address a more serious issue in our home and school community: Diversity.
I mean really isn't that truly a concern parents have sending their child to an insular Jewish Day School, that it is lacking in diversity?
No, I am not suggesting mandatory viewing of the Australian aboriginally dressed Russian Olympic Ice Skating Competition (I'll just bet that is where you thought this was going).
I am advocating Divorce Day!
I think there is not enough divorce awareness out there in the school.
Do we have a Divorcee Melava Malka? No.
What about a Divorce color war? Believe me these teams practically self divide, really I think it is a no brainer.
Our children are missing diversity awareness.
These privileged children are not exposed to the divorce enough.
They understand that some parents can not and are not buying pajamas for the needy, they are also not buying $16 "Sugarlips" stretchy sleeveless undershirts for their third grader.
How about awareness that there are actually mom's out there doing it all--from having the gutter replaced to sending in the financial aid forms (and who are not going to double the deposit because there are 2 sets of information to be processed for one child of divorced parents).
Perhaps the PTA could make the divorced mom's breakfast--forget the pancakes--we'll take extra strong coffee, and lactose free milk (the fact that our digestion is shot should come as no great surprise to anyone here) and chocolate straight up.
Those divorced dads sit in a large ball pit (equipped with baseballs, if you please) and we could model this activity after that famous Purim carnival booth, something like hit the clown with the wet sponge, only with the baseballs?
Another initiative I would like to recommend to the PTA is to reconfigure the development mailing list. It is simple and the figures remain the same. Just replace all divorced moms with the dad's mailing. It is highly likely they will not have read the first mailing anyway so better to send two. Really this is undoubtedly a more effective development strategy.
On Divorce Day, after hearing Hatikva and the Pledge of Allegiance the PA system should play the appropriate Chrisitne Lavin song "Happy Divorce Day": "though it's with sadness we arrived here, we leave with lighter hearts, knowing some of us are better off when we are apart".
The rest of the lyrics are linked here: http://www.christinelavin.com/index.php?page=songs&display=226&category=Shining_My_Flashlight_on_the_Moon
Lastly, I want to propose a "More than Mother's Day Celebration". It is the mother who sometimes calls every grandparent, neighbor, cousin, friend or tangential acquaintance to get a copy of the homework, bring the Oreos on October the 13th, borrow the last minute costume, pick up a child, or take a child to the doctor. That would be the same single mother whose ends rarely meet, those are the same split ends of her own hair that are yet to be ripped out of her head in frustration, cleans the toilets, makes the decisions, and doctor's appointments (and puts them on the Google calendar) routinely forgoes sleep, makes and enforces rules and is often treated to the thankless thoughtlessness, and the needless nasties in heaping helpings.
End of Rant.
Forms
Why are there so many forms to be filled out? School registration forms plagued me this morning with their impending deadlines for next fall, yet. Then, of course, there are some extra curricular activity forms, and some bills (which if not paid online, are forms that require checks which most forms for that matter).
It must be because my children are in private school. Are there less forms to fill out for public school, because after all it is not like one would request financial aid and since they were registered for last year they know they are coming the next year, right?
I guess if you have a special needs child you still fill out a lot of forms in the public school system. And how is that at all fair?
I bet when I get to be a teacher in the public school system I am going to have to fill out a lot of forms.
My parents sent four daughters to school from kindergarten to 12th grade without submitting their tax returns in February. People in Israel do not submit their tax returns to send their children to school. I copied my tax forms this morning on my home computer scanner. I cannot say I enjoyed the experience. I will be doing this every year until 2019.
My far away phone friend said that she thought they should be able to be reproduced on line already since we keep having to write the family address over and over again, by hand. She is right and she pointed out that it wastes more paper--which we all know we are trying to get away from.
As an tree hugging kind of aside, we started recycling boxes in our new apartment and I think this is very good--even if it takes up space until it is removed. Let's be very clear, the actuality of efficiency remains unsubstantiated but since I have no legislative power to truly improve the system I am resigned to be being a compliant consumer. Therefore, perhaps it is really only good because it makes me feel good.
It does and it sure beat the forms.
Now we are here in our new digs for two weeks and two days. The new apartment is coming along nicely, if I do say so myself even if the Mother did remark that it seems I don't have time to hang a thing on the walls at the moment.
I just wish there were about 5 more hours in a day and that I didn't need to sleep.
Now back to the forms more of which need to be filled out.
It must be because my children are in private school. Are there less forms to fill out for public school, because after all it is not like one would request financial aid and since they were registered for last year they know they are coming the next year, right?
I guess if you have a special needs child you still fill out a lot of forms in the public school system. And how is that at all fair?
I bet when I get to be a teacher in the public school system I am going to have to fill out a lot of forms.
My parents sent four daughters to school from kindergarten to 12th grade without submitting their tax returns in February. People in Israel do not submit their tax returns to send their children to school. I copied my tax forms this morning on my home computer scanner. I cannot say I enjoyed the experience. I will be doing this every year until 2019.
My far away phone friend said that she thought they should be able to be reproduced on line already since we keep having to write the family address over and over again, by hand. She is right and she pointed out that it wastes more paper--which we all know we are trying to get away from.
As an tree hugging kind of aside, we started recycling boxes in our new apartment and I think this is very good--even if it takes up space until it is removed. Let's be very clear, the actuality of efficiency remains unsubstantiated but since I have no legislative power to truly improve the system I am resigned to be being a compliant consumer. Therefore, perhaps it is really only good because it makes me feel good.
It does and it sure beat the forms.
Now we are here in our new digs for two weeks and two days. The new apartment is coming along nicely, if I do say so myself even if the Mother did remark that it seems I don't have time to hang a thing on the walls at the moment.
I just wish there were about 5 more hours in a day and that I didn't need to sleep.
Now back to the forms more of which need to be filled out.
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