Hi. I am back. So what’s my fret today? Homework, by far my favorite fret. There’s something about homework that really ticks me off. 

It all started with a conversation that I had with one of my kids’ teachers. I was very politely told, “You should not bring office work home. Finish everything at work, go home, and spend some quality time with your kids.” 

So like a good parent, I stopped bringing work home. But then when I reached home I’d see my kid doing homework! Wow, can you believe that? Don’t bring work home. Agreed. But what about homework? Shouldn’t the same apply? 

Homework just wrecks my weekend. One of my kids gets homework on Thursdays. That means my Friday and Saturday family time with the kids has gone for a toss. This is how it pans out. Friday is movie time. Just while I am beginning to enjoy the movie, the thought of homework will make a cameo appearance and remind me that we need to get back and do the homework. There goes my peace of mind and the movie. I go out with the kids to the park, and the stress of homework follows me, ensuring that I compromise on my fun time so that I can rush back home and get the kids going with the homework. Of course, the intelligent guy that I am, I have also tried  to finish off the homework first and go about living up our Fridays and Saturdays. But then this is what happens. We make a “Mission Homework” plan, assign schedules, responsibilities and timelines. Now they are kids. So things don’t exactly pan out the way we want. Little distractions, “Mom, I’m hungry”, “I am tired”, “Can I take a break?” situations happen. And what do we do? We just watch helplessly as the clock ticks by. We see our precious Friday time tick by. Bye-bye, Friday, and we are still not done with the homework. Time with kids still not done. Saturday creeps in and it’s time for homework all over again Aaaargh!

My question is: Why do they need homework in the first place? If I shouldn’t be bringing work home, why should they? Why can’t we change homework to “After School” work? Why can’t the kids sit the extra hour in the class and do the assignment, in the presence of the teachers. The way I see it, one teacher supervising the homework will free up approximately 28 parents. Now, imagine the whole school freeing up parents. Just thinking of this puts a smile on my face. Now, let’s talk quality time with kids.

Am I just rambling? Is my imagination just running wild? Do you all even agree with me? If yes, let me know by writing a Yes in the comments section of the blog. That way I know I’m not the only one fretting. Having said that, I am done for now. I’ll be back soon. Till then, live healthy and say NO to MDM.