Too Much of a Good Thing?

Today we had a two hour delay due to the snow that fell over the evening, so my daughter and I had some time to ourselves before we had to leave the house. It was nice, a slow paced morning. It was the kind of morning you wish you could have everyday, when there was no arguing, rushing and worrying. It was just a leisurely pace that suited both of us.

Well, we started to play a bit, just moping around, and we decided to play a unique version of "School." We use my feet as the students, and she is the teacher. One foot (the left) is well behaved, the other is a student who has no manners and is always getting into trouble. She loves this game and we rarely have time for it, so I agreed to it today.

As we were playing, the students had to do seat work and art class, and then lunch and then gym...and it was fun for her to switch roles and be the teacher, but something struck me about the interaction she was having with my feet..or should I say students? The right foot student handed in his paper and she looked at it, as if grading it, and told the right foot that he would get no credit for his paper because he did it in red marker. The right foot student said, but I like red, don't you like red? The teacher said that the work was to be done in pencil, not red marker, so he would get no credit. The foot argued that it was a form of self expression. My daughter the teacher didn't see any room for that sort of nonsense in her classroom! Well, it got me thinking. Since she was mimicking her own school experience, she must hear that in school. Only use a pencil, only use blue ink, only write on every other line...etc., etc. In our quest for order and discipline, have we lost our creativity? Are we squelching our children's imaginations by telling them to color within the lines? Have we crossed that line?

Well, given my nature, I'm certainly concerned about this and try my best to get my daughter to express her individuality as much as she can without breaking too many of those important rules she must live by. I realize there is need for order. I know that a school without discipline wouldn't be much of a school, but I don't see how NOT using a red marker for your homework, as long as your homework is neat...well...what does it matter what you use to write your homework down as long as it's done right? Are we doing these children a disservice? Should schools be teaching our children to be free thinkers instead of little lemmings who follow every direction given? Are we brainwashing our kids and making them less than they could be?

Very good questions. No answers here. As I said, I'm seeing the need for discipline. I've seen kids who have no respect for authority and where they end up in this world, but I'm just not sure that everyone using a number 2 pencil has anything at all to do with discipline and I fail to see how it helps my daughter spread her wings.

I suppose all I can do is be sure to allow her all the freedom of expression that she desires, within reason, and hope that all the rules and regs at school don't squelch her natural exuberance and enthusiasm for life. She's a unique child and is capable of great things and I want to do what I can to be sure she doesn't lose any of her creativity. She's amazing, and I want her to stay the awesome girl that she is, through her teens and beyond. There is no reason to lose that energy. We just do. Well, I will stand guard and hope she keeps that fire burning.

It's my job. That's just what I do.