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Mar. 14th, 2008 08:23 amAnyone else remember Scholastic Book Club as a source of inexpensive paperback books (I'm old enough that we're talking about pocket change)? When did it become a toy catalogue? Sure, there are still a few paperbacks -- and there's usually one or two books for 95 cents (it should be noted that these are NEVER books that Daniel is interested in reading) -- but every month the school sends home not one but two "book orders" (because third grade apparently walks the line between early readers and young readers) that invariably include $12 kits to make your own (insert item here). Or toys that tie in to popular books. Or activities. Or, best of all, clubs to join that pick your pocket of $5 to $10 every month to deliver more stuff to the house that in our case ends up broken or stepped on or otherwise not cared for.
There's a new one every time I turn around. I want Danny to read. I want him to experiment and try new things. I don't have an extra $20-$50 every month to make this possible. We have a library. We have the Internet. We have a basement FULL of interesting stuff to take apart or otherwise experiment with. Please God no more STUFF.
And yet it breaks my heart to tell him no. Today he actually started counting out his stash of coins when I told him I wasn't going to give him $13.00 to build his own remote lamp control. (No, that's not a lot of money but I'm willing to bet we've spent over $100 on Scholastic orders since September. Enough.) Meanwhile, the bit of homework that's due every Friday was done half-assed at the last moment and his "book report" shows zero effort even though he read the book and did extra research on the Internet. Also he forgot it was "crazy hat" day at school until he got to the bus stop.
At least he got to the bus stop before the bus, but only because we fed him and packed his backpack and hounded him until he was dressed and ready to go.
This is the same kid who sits right down after school and immediately completes the worksheets in his homework folder before he asks to watch TV or play computer games. The kid who (sometimes) does his own laundry. The kid who is usually awake and dressed and downstairs before his father and I have even managed to peel our eyes open.
Oh, right. I was ranting about Scholastic. I guess that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Argh.
There's a new one every time I turn around. I want Danny to read. I want him to experiment and try new things. I don't have an extra $20-$50 every month to make this possible. We have a library. We have the Internet. We have a basement FULL of interesting stuff to take apart or otherwise experiment with. Please God no more STUFF.
And yet it breaks my heart to tell him no. Today he actually started counting out his stash of coins when I told him I wasn't going to give him $13.00 to build his own remote lamp control. (No, that's not a lot of money but I'm willing to bet we've spent over $100 on Scholastic orders since September. Enough.) Meanwhile, the bit of homework that's due every Friday was done half-assed at the last moment and his "book report" shows zero effort even though he read the book and did extra research on the Internet. Also he forgot it was "crazy hat" day at school until he got to the bus stop.
At least he got to the bus stop before the bus, but only because we fed him and packed his backpack and hounded him until he was dressed and ready to go.
This is the same kid who sits right down after school and immediately completes the worksheets in his homework folder before he asks to watch TV or play computer games. The kid who (sometimes) does his own laundry. The kid who is usually awake and dressed and downstairs before his father and I have even managed to peel our eyes open.
Oh, right. I was ranting about Scholastic. I guess that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Argh.
