Strike

My bed - this morning @ 7:00am

That really boring blog post I was telling you about... The one I was working on two weeks ago? I never finished it. And now it seems pointless. It sure is hard to blog when you have a newly mobile little one, two bored older kids, a job, and a house that is in a constant state of packing and unpacking, painting and sanding. And cleaning. Oh, the cleaning.

The post was about the first day of school. It was, as per my usual, way too many silly words to describe a single, simple event. The girls started school. Bela is in 2nd grade. Mae is in kindergarten. They are no longer at Waldorf. It was, at first, a hard transition. Now, we are very happy.

Well, almost very happy.

They had one glorious week at school. Every day they came home and said, "it was awesome!". I loved it. They loved it. They had drama, art, library, gym, computer class, and two recesses every day. Not bad for Chicago Public Schools. When asked what they didn't like about it, Bela reported 'nothing! I loved it all!' Mae, slightly more pessimistic at times than her sister, stated quickly that her least favorite part was something called "Chicago runs." 'We have to run around in circles for like 10 minutes. I HATED it.'

Clearly, she is not her mother's daughter.

One "awesome" week in, though, and they were back on summer break, minus the stifling heat. You may have heard about our little teachers' strike here in Chicago; the only teachers visible in our neighborhood these days are the ones who have set up camp outside the middle school on our street. I walk by them every day as I walk the girls to the field house at our local park, which, thankfully, is offering free "strike camp."

We stand behind our teachers over here. We support them in this fight, which is our fight. Which has our children's best interest in mind. We agree that they should consider the offered contract carefully.

But I'm also ready for these girls to be back in school, where they belong. As a fellow educator already disillusioned with public education in general, and the sad state of the Chicago Public School system in particular, I find myself treading strange middle ground because I am also a parent and I don't like to see my kids locked out of a school and used as leverage in any way, shape or form. And these days, I just kind of don't like seeing my kids Monday through Friday, in the middle of the day, at our house.

So GO TEACHERS! Damn it. FIGHT FOR WHAT YOU AND OUR CHILDREN DESERVE! Get my kids out of my house please. DON'T LET YOURSELVES BE BULLIED! Don't mind me if I give you half an evil eye as I drag my whiny kids past your picket line. STAND UP FOR OUR UNDER-SERVED COMMUNITIES! I can't honk as I drive by because I'm yelling at my kids in the back seat.  CLOSING DOWN SCHOOLS IS NOT REFORM! I'm going to move to the suburbs soon.