The Mother Who Checked Out

My family and I flew to Detroit and back for the Thanksgiving holiday. On the return trip, I saw a family of three–mom, a boy about 6 years old and a girl about 12 years old. I first noticed them when the boy hopped on a moving sidewalk that was moving in the opposite direction of where they were headed. Mom looked frantic, like she was afraid they would miss their flight, but the boy smiled, tried for a moment to go against the moving sidewalk and then gave up and kept going away from her. She seemed beaten down and not willing to fight him to get him moving in the direction they needed to go.

My attention was elsewhere as I took care of my family, including

What If the Kids Aren’t Doing Their Work?

I saw this question again today online. Parents debated what to do with homeschooled kids who weren’t doing their work. Could doing chores instead of lessons be the homeschool version of in-school suspension and help get them back on track with lessons? Would it be better to have them write a paper on the reasons for learning and getting an education? Should they be denied fun activities and events until they toe the line?

Sometimes kids don’t want to do