Our Graduation Trip Adventure to NYC

Things didn't go exactly as I'd planned.  We did, however have a very good time, and everyone wants to do it again.

My daughter and I set out by car to Virginia to the Army base where my brother lives.  We took our sweet time, stopping often to stretch, eat, and even shop.  We did the 8 hour trip in 12 hours.  We crashed at my brothers house and when his wife, who had just gotten of of 24 hour duty was available, dragged her into the car and headed out for NY.

At this point, it there was a small chance that any traffic issues could risk our Wicked tickets.  So my very tired sister-in-law did the bulk of the driving because I am a notorious slow driver. Everything was going great until we got to the Lincoln Tunnel.  It was CRAZY.  Bumper to bumper traffic at its finest... but we got to the hotel in time to drop our bags, change our clothes and run 12 city blocks to the Gershwin theater!  So. Worth. It.  Wicked was great.

Photo taken in lobby of Wicked (Gershwin Theatre)

Then the adventure really began.  I hoped to get into one or two more shows while we were there, but we couldn't find anything we felt was worth paying the expensive prices for- for last minute tickets.  Next time, we will need to plan ahead.  Instead, we did a ton of walking and exploring.  A bit of restaurant eating... including having "breakfast" at Cake Boss two days in a row.  Yum!

Photo taken in restaurant/ bakery, while watching the show on the big screen

We had a bit of a surprise in our hotel room which I had chosen because it was one of the few NY hotels that did not have a bed bug report... (high standards, right).  Well, there were no bugs, thankfully,  but someone had stashed a large amount of clothing, and seemingly stolen goods under the bed.  In the end, we were only charged half prices, after arguing the the idiot clerks who instead of refunding a night as their manager said, they charged me an additional night.... and acted like I was inconveniencing them!

We also went to MOMA (museum).  Thanks to my SIL who is active military, we got in free and viewed the modern art and photography exhibits.  We also kind of bumped into Chris Rock, the comedian/actor and SIL forgot she wasn't in her military gear.  She tried to get his attention and he was not feeling it.  Normally she can get ANYONE to take a photo with her, but no-go with him.  She even got two police officers to take a photo with her, and entertained us with her forceful, but fun personality the whole trip.

We crashed at my brothers house on the way back and decided to stay an extra day.  I was just too tired to do the drive home.  We got home late yesterday after visiting with my son at college a couple of hours.

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Don't do this, do that... It pays better

I've had the pleasure of noticing a glut of articles and email list advice about guiding children to the "right" majors and careers.

 It kind of floors me that homeschoolers have also jumped on this bandwagon. I know we all want to make sure our kids become financially secure, but career engineering, in my opinion, will not help our kids. (Yes, I am biased. I am a creative person and so are my kids, so do with this advice what you will.)

 Still, If we point all of our kids to the top 10 college majors for top earners, within 10 years that career choice will be overpopulated. That is just the obvious problem. The other problem, as I see it is that not everyone is wired for those top earning jobs. This means they won't be competitive in their field. They will be at the bottom of the pile professionally and financially. That also won't do much for their emotional well being either.

 Meanwhile, that kid that was wired for one of those touchy-feely careers (and majors) and actually follows their heart, is more likely to be a superstar in their area, putting them at the top of their profession and their income bracket.

 This is why I am not trying to engineer my kids career based on stats and opinions of what sells. I am letting them follow their own instincts so that they can be the best at what they are interested in, no matter how insignificant it may seem to the outside world. I just don't think that by choosing a more financially secure profession will make them any richer than doing what they are naturally good at, so why try to change their direction?

 I will never understand why people homeschool when they still follow the crowd.

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ahermitt.com

Best argument for homeschooling to date.

As I watch young nieces, nephews, and extended family struggle with high school, I would try to compare their struggle to my own personal experience as a public school student over 20 years ago. I knew things had changed, but because I chose to homeschool my own, I have remained pretty ignorant of just how much things have changed. Here an excerpt from a a retirement letter recently written by Mr. Conti, who has taught for 40 years:

“For the last decade or so, I have had two signs hanging above the blackboard at the front of my classroom, they read, ‘Words Matter’ and ‘Ideas Matter.’ While I still believe these simple statements to be true, I don’t feel that those currently driving public education have any inkling of what they mean... My profession is being demeaned by a pervasive atmosphere of distrust, dictating that teachers cannot be permitted to develop and administer their own quizzes and tests (now titled as generic “assessments”) or grade their own students’ examinations. The development of plans, choice of lessons and the materials to be employed are increasingly expected to be common to all teachers in a given subject. This approach not only strangles creativity, it smothers the development of critical thinking in our students and assumes a one-size-fits-all mentality more appropriate to the assembly line than to the classroom."

Read the full letter here Based on this information, I have to say I am really glad that have homeschooled my kids, and I only have one piece of advice... one that I have surprisingly never given before. If you want your child to be successful in education and in life.. you will want to homeschool them. FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE ahermitt.com

In ADHD data, growing worry about diagnoses?

In ADHD data, growing worry about diagnoses

Fifteen percent of school-age boys have received an ADHD diagnosis, the data showed; the rate for girls was 7 percent. Diagnoses among those of high-school age — 14 to 17 — were particularly high, 10 percent for girls and 19 percent for boys. About one in 10 high-school boys currently takes ADHD medication, the data showed.

According to Morning Joe, diagnoses have increased 53% in the last 10 years.  While I am sure there are some kids that need it, I am also sure there are families being pressured to take ADHD medications that don't need it.  In my own experience, and in hindsight, my mothers error in not allowing a truly ADHD child to not take the drug gave me the courage to say NO when it was being forced on my child. While my sibling probably still needs it, my child never did.

I've told my child's story many times, but the short synopsis is that upon moving to GA, a perfectly charming chid became a behavioral issue. She kicked off her shoes and she would perch on her knees in the desk. Her grades? They were fine, but she was a distraction to the teacher.  Every week for 2 years, I was pulled into an ADHD  conversation. At first I brushed it off, then I got mad. A teacher got mad back.  She told me "my son is taking Ritalin, why is your child so special that she can't take it?"  She continued, " she won't be able to do 2nd grade at this school without Ritalin". My reply...OK.  She pushed a doctors business card toward me.  I pushed it back. She didn't understand. I clarified.  "She won't be doing 2nd grade at this school.  We will homeschool. "

10 years later, my kid is graduating- a year early, and heading to college on scholarship.  I never drugged her, but I did control her diet...  No red drinks... Less processed foods... Things like that.  She grew out of her wiggly ways somewhere along the way.

I've mentioned all this to say that every wiggly child is not ADHD. theyre just kids. Perhaps intrad of changing diagnoses to include all kids and allowing teachers to make determinations, perhaps they should be narrowing down who they prescribe attention deficit drugs to.


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