Why is parenting so embarrassing?

This is more of a rant, but I've had quite a few not-so-stellar parenting moments recently. Last Friday I had to participate in a sign language competition against my son's kindergarten class and got my butt kicked -- not too surprising, since I hadn't practiced at all. Bryce asked me later -- how do they expect parents to practice, they have to work and cook? Later that night, I sat through 2 and a half hours of a play for the same child, just so he could sing a "song" that was five lines long with 50 other kids. Very frustrating! The next day, I took my kids to a talk about childhood nutrition at the museum that they did not want to attend. I ended up being coaxed into hula hooping in exchange for a pedometer which my children then stole and used to map out the local library. This really is a typical weekend for me! Oh, and I forgot to add that my teen-age son filmed my hula-hooping and threatened to post it on facebook, but I think he recognized that would be too embarrassing for him as well!

If you only watch one movie this year . . .

I had read the book. I had watched every single video posted on Education Nation. I had stalked out the director's blog like nobody's business. But it wasn't until I watched the movie Waiting for Superman that I realized that this is the single most important movie to come along in quite some time. If you have kids, work in schools, care about kids, or care about the state of our country, make this the one movie you simply must see. Because it wasn't available in my city, I missed most of the fury over the film, participating vicariously through trailers and blogs. Now that the film has been released on DVD, you can rent it for $5 on itunes. You can buy it for $15 on itunes, or I'm sure it's available through netflix, etc.

When you watch this movie, try not to miss the message. Because of the political storm that so many states are in right now with education, it's easy to get caught up with the pro-union v. anti-union, or pro-charter v. anti-charter. The director has stated on his website that the charter school analogy is only that -- an analogy. The kids in the film are waiting to see if they get accepted into a high-performing charter by participating in a lottery, but we as parents are "gambling" on our kids every day -- based on where we live, what we can afford and the options we do or don't have. That is the message. And if you don't get seriously fired up by Geoffrey Canada -- founder of the Harlem Children's Zone -- you should seriously check your pulse.

I really am going to get better at posting on my blog! I really like the outlet, and I feel like so much is going on in education right now that there is a lot to say!