I went to school last night.  Not the kids' school for back to school night, not to volunteer, but school...for me.  I sat at a tiny desk, got grilled by a teacher, and tried my very best to participate.

 

You see, I convinced my children to join our school's afterschool Spanish program.  I explained to them that Spanish is one of the most important things that they should learn in life, living in a country where so many people come from other places and in a world where most people are multilingual.  I'm a stickler about it actually.  If you've ever traveled outside of this country, it's literally an embarrassment how Americans expect others to speak English, yet make no attempt to communicate with people in THEIR language.

 

Anyway, the kids, being smart and surly, demanded to know why, if I felt it was so important to speak Spanish, I did not know it myself.  I told them that I studied French, but would love to learn Spanish if I had the opportunity...they of course, said, well?  Get going...and I did.  My husband and I signed up for a continuing education class, landing ourselves in a Spanish class one night a week. 

 

What a great experience for a parent!  Sometimes I forget how hard school is -- the expectations of a teacher, the rules, the temptation to talk behind the teacher's back, the pressure of speaking up in front of other students, the drama of not knowing an answer -- how embarrassing!  It was great though and I am so excited to remember what it is to learn again. My kids giggled on their way to school this morning as I told them I'd gotten reprimanded by the teacher for not knowing certain words...they loved hearing about their parents in school and I was reminded of the first tenet of parenting success -- kids learn best by seeing you DO.

 

So why not get out this fall and do something you've always wanted to do -- get your hands dirty, get your head working, and remember the excitement of the world outside of your kitchen sink.

 

If you can talk your spouse into it, you might even get a date night out of the deal.  We had a ball...next week we might even sneak off to 'park' after school...but don't tell my mom.