Being a reporter vs. being a parent

We were discussing a similar topic at home several weeks ago.
I think many parents of our generation do it intentionally because so many employers won't question it any more.
Each parent takes his/her child to school every morning. There is never any carpooling because that gives each parent an excuse to be at work 30 minutes late on a regular basis.
Same with picking kids up after school, dropping them off/picking them up at practice, etc.
I never hear of parents setting up carpools for kids in the same class, on the same team, etc.

 

All but one of my friends has their kids in a carpool for school/activities. Interesting that your experience is the opposite.

 

Are there any kids in America who actually walk to school anymore?

 

I even know one coworker who insists on staying home when one of his kids is sick, although his wife is home and doesn't work.
Well, he used to insist on it. They're divorced now, but up until a couple of years ago he stayed home every time one of his kids was sick.

 

Twenty miles, in the roaring snow, uphill both ways, the way we did when we were kids?

And that was after milking the cows of course.


Back to the point of the thread: Whenever you possibly can, choose your kids. "The company" doesn't give a sizzling steaming shit about you and will happily lay you off the very first second it can, leaving you and your kids out in the cold.

Fuck the company. Be there for your kids. Do what you have to do to not get fired; that's it.

 

No, because Nancy Grace and local TV news have convinced the nation children will be abducted if they're out of sight of their parents for more than one minute.

 

I am amazed and frustrated by all of the bullshit events for kids. Hell, my daughter's preschool had a graduation, which is completely fucking ridiculous.

Here's the problem. She knows about it. Her friends are going. She's going to want to go and she's going to want mom and dad there.

She had a "field day" this morning, which was a fairly stupid and annoying event. That said, the look on her face when she saw me there made me very happy I had moved my schedule around to attend.

Not sure what's right or wrong. Each parent has to make that decision for himself or herself. Just saying that despite the fact that some of these events are stupid, my 6-year-old cares about them. That's enough to make me or my wife want to be there for her for as many of these stupid events as we can.

 

My son graduated from pre-school last week. We went to the ceremony, watched him sing "Kindergarten Here I Come" in full cap and gown. To celebrate, we gave him a balloon and a Bumblebee Transformer and he was as happy as a kid can be. Total money spent: $14.

It was a lot of fun and we got a lot of cool video and pictures from it.

The first graduation ceremony I participated in was high school.

Was this one meaningless? I guess, but I still would not have missed it for anything.

 

My parents did not get to everything and I was all right with that. I remember I had to walk, ride or ask someone to drive me to little league practice because mom and dad worked later than the start time. That meant some missed games too. I couldn't tell you what games they were at and which ones they missed. Even if they were there, I rarely looked around to find them in the stands.

I think the only thing I really looked forward to seeing my parents at was the "Parents Day" in elementary school. Other than that, they hit the highlights and that was enough.

 

Once again, even when emotions are involved, there is a common-sense middle ground.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to attend an event in your kid's life.
There's something wrong in having to move heaven and earth because you're afraid for your child's emotional well being if you miss a youht basketball game.
In sixth grade, a kid is old enough to understand if his/her mother has to work instead of atteding an awards ceremony.
Of course the kid might be upset if his/her mother missed every event.
And if there are two parents, they can split duties if necessary.

Just some common sense, that's all I ask for.

 

I think the tough part is when you have to miss one of your kid's things because you are covering an event featuring someone else's kids, especially when that event is not a so-called big game that you know readers are really interested in. Add in the lousy pay, furlough time, etc., and sometimes you wonder if it is worth it.

 

Sometimes it has nothing with an editor or pressure from an employer. Sometimes the parent thinks he/she has to work all the time.

Not always the employers' faults in these situations.