The Gay Uncle needs your help. He’s been asked to come up with a seasonally relevant essay topic for a national media outlet and while he has a proprietary take on the issues related to packing for summer vacations, prepping for autumn’s back-to-school, and the tedious dressing and undressing associated with winter wardrobes, he’s not so clear on what parents struggle with in the spring: Deciding whether or not to place partnerless mittens into storage? Mud? The irritatingly inexorable nature of the cycle of life? Help him out by submitting your spring essay ideas in the COMMENTS space below. Winner receives a shout-out if this thing actually happens.
10 Replies to “Essay Topic Needed”
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I’m a step-parent, which is not the same, but here’s a couple of ideas for ya…
– what to do with all the art class macaroni masterpieces that have accumulated this year
– how to talk your kids out of playing a spring sport (ie, softball) that will take over your evenings and weekends, or, how to conceal the booze in your adult beverage on the sidelines at the playing field
– it’s a little late, but how an ounce of prevention can prevent the summer vacation “i’m booooored” mantra
Good luck!
Given that spring is the time of well, natural reproduction (I know — yuck), what about “How To Talk To Your Kids about the Birds and the Bees(Without Freaking Anyone Out)”? That way parents won’t be embarrassed when children ask what those two ___ are doing on top of each other, when everyone’s outside in the garden or park.
Tell us about BURNOUT!
We’re four days from Spring Break and everybody’s overwrought. It’s getting progressively harder to get the kids up and moving in the morning no matter how early we retire (could it still be the time change thing?).
How can we (both parents and kids) make it through these next few days and keep our sanity…and once the Break’s over, what are your suggestions to pull us through to the end of the school year? (The girls would like to skip Spring entirely and head straight to Summer Vacation, and though I can’t blame ’em, we haven’t found the wormhole).
Summer camp!! So many choices, so many deadlines, so much money!
I agree with Sarah!
Summer camp is overwhelming and EVERYWHERE. Our local free parent publication is overrun with adds for every type of camp, for every age group and for every theme. I’m an adult and I feel over-stimulated by the choices.
American Girl camp, jewelry making camp, golf camp, skateboard camp, Harry Potter camp, How to make Iron Age Babylonian Coffee Mugs camp.
I have friends so afraid of having to stay home (a SAHM no doubt) and entertain/hang out with/enjoy their kids, that they spent more than a year’s college tuition (at the private college rate) keeping their kids in various camps all summer long.
Perhaps it’s a new form of inner-parent competition?
I went to camp one week out of the summer and then I learned to self-entertain the rest of the time I was out of school.
As an “outside the house” working mother, I become panicked every time a school vacation comes up. What do I do with the kids when they don’t have school and I have to work.
Are we forced to send our children to camp, yoga, sailing, etc. simply because it is a bit cheaper than a nanny? Is it too much activity?
I’m with Sarah. What in the WORLD do we do with kids all summer????? Is there older kid daycare????
(and while we’re on the subject, why doesn’t anyone have daycare for weekends???? )
[Um…it’s not a weekend for the daycare provider if they have to work! G.U.]
Maybe I need to write that book on vacations after all! G.U.
Spring brings more outdoor activities, especially trips to the park which lead to more interaction with kids you don’t know and who, often times, behave very differently than your kid (winter playdates tend to be pre-arranged and thus with likeminded parents/kids/nannies)…some of these tykes are really aggressive, name-calling, etc. Same with their parents – some over-control the kids’ interactions. others ignore their kids’ bad behavior, etc. How do you explain to your kids the differences in acceptable behavior in different households, etc. without sounding judgmental and like other kids/parents/household norms are wrong or bad? I have a very literal 3.5 year old who takes the things we tell her at home and announces them in a really critical way to other kids or to me (“Mom that boy is BAD. He used a BAD word.” Or “That girl spreads germs.” which just meant she coughed and didn’t cover her mouth, etc.).
6 hours ago So many people blame kids for “not knowing how to play” ,http://nonviolencenetwork.com/node/605091