Aug. 26, 2009 - My own personal $600 per month toilet
Never do I feel more "a leg up" in the process than the first few weeks of school. I love hearing of my friends' kids experiences...the new two minute passing time for middle school, navigating the "up" staircase and the "down" staircase, the locker jams, FB pics of school buses pulling away at 7am, the first graders who haven't yet touched a pencil. I love these because they not only fill me with a bit of nostalgia, but they also alleviate the guilt that comes when I declare a four day week or a long vacation or "heck, it's a beautiful sunny day and we're homeschoolers who are going out to enjoy it!" We've been back at it for a couple of weeks now. Rather than orientation/navigation issues, we dived into our Latin, our music practice, our adapted Shakespeare Richard III (in written and in animated formats), our Renaissance and Reformation history, our area and perimeter, algebra, TI-89 Titanium programming calculations (depending on the kid). I need the annual reminder that what we do is both flexible but also just darn efficient.
Oh, to bottle and remember these days for the upcoming November and December, when our emphasis will be on "life skills" such as how to diaper a baby, how to fix lunch so Mom can nap. I will be certain then that the kids would be so much better off somewhere--anywhere--else but home. My rational side knows this is not true, but I don't expect to be rational in the first months of a new baby.
But am I really all that rational now? (don't answer that.) 3/4 of our property taxes go to the local schools. That's about $6K annually straight to D204, or $600 monthly per 10 month school calendar. What do I get for my $600? Well, the elementary school secretary is quite kind enough to let me stop in and use the bathroom during my long morning waddles around the neighborhood. Maybe I am a chump; even if I stop in to pee every week day, that's $30 a flush. Shouldn't I also at least be given a latte and a bouquet every time I enter the building, in grateful appreciation of me forking over the cash without burdening the district with my four, soon to be five, kids?
It seems expensive to me, as far as loos go. But not having to send my kid to a non-air conditioned building at the end of August nor having them waste time searching for the "down" staircase? Priceless.
Blessings, Holly
Comments
Aug. 27, 2009 - baby
Posted by Anonymous
Holly, You must be due about the same time I am... I'm having #4 on Dec. 3 so I'll be joining you in teaching my kids "life skills" during the month of December. =]
Emily
http://everydaymomlife.blogspot.com
