Snarl …%&$*% Parents… mutter
I’m irritable today. Happens to the best of us. I could say it’s because of this thing or that, but really, its just me. Things that would normally not bother me, or bother me fleetingly, are truly, truly annoying me today. I’m cranky.
I keep another blog, private, password-protected blog, for the parents. Some of the stuff is much the same as you see here; other bits of it are different, and there are pictures, lots and lots of delightful pictures. I post almost every day. It started out as a labour of love.
And you know what? The parents don’t read it.
Okay, I’m exaggerating because I’m cranky. Of the twelve parents who could be reading it, three read regularly, three read it occasionally, and six NEVER READ IT AT ALL!
Never.
Of the six who read it at all, only three ever comment. Of the three, one – ONE – comments regularly. Of twelve parents, ONE SOLE PARENT is interested enough in that big child-free gap between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to actually click every day, and comment a couple times a week. ONE. This morning a parent mentioned me how nice it was that I did “that blog thing”, adding, and “I comment when I get the time.”
Lovely. How long does it take to bang in a couple of lines in response to a cute story ABOUT YOUR CHILD?
So, it’s not a labour of love any more. It’s a Professional Obligation, which I meet professionally. I figure it will be a great selling point with future clients.
It still boggles my mind, though. I’m having a terrible time getting past this. Stupid *%#& parents…
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It's Not All Mary Poppins 
I would love a blog about my kids day care. I would look every day – at least a dozen times, and comment on everything. In fact I’d probably drive you nuts:-)
Still 4000 miles may be a little out of our commuting area:-(
I would obsessively click on that thing. I, too, would drive you nuts!
Wow, just think of all the time I could have saved by having my HDL blog about Baby Lauren!
MrsA: It would not drive me nuts. It would be Highly Gratifying. Given the amount of driving you already do for your work, I’m not entirely sure how much further it would be!!
Misfit: I probably went into this with unnaturally high expectations. I know I’d be clicking obsessively were I the parent, and I just assumed all my parents would do as you, and me, and Mrs. A would do – go mental! Instead, 1 reads it, 6 don’t read it at all, and the rest of them are fricken Lurkers!!! I have to laugh, at least a little, if ruefully…
Crayonz: Ah, but your HDL, no matter how wonderful, will never love that little funnel-headed girl as you do! You’re the best for that job, hands down.
That would have been so kewl. The GirlChild’s Kindergarten teacher kept a journal for the kids in her class. Every day or so she would write something the kids did, or said and save it to a disk. At the end of the year she gave it to us. But pictures would have been awsome. And to be able to look at a blog and see what she’s doing. A working mother’s dream!
OH MY GOD, MARY. I cannot believe that. Parents are soooo strange. Like the parent of the little girl Tod-lar goes to daycare with — That mother never asks questions about what went on during the day. NEVER. How could a parent NOT be interested in their child?
You are doing such a great thing, Mary. I know I would appreciate it.
P.S. — sorry I haven’t been commenting as much. School is taking up SO MUCH TIME. But I do read you at least once a day!
Thats quite sad, I would love to know what my kids get upto when they are with the child minder or even better at school.
Perhaps its time to raise your rates by 10%, but give a 10% discount to those parents that can be bothered to take an interest in their children.
Thinking further, every day I say to my kids:
“How was school, what did you get upto”
And every day I get the same reply:
“I dunno/can’t remember”
Thinking even more about it, the only time Sam and I can get an accurate update is at parents evening, which is once a term.
Missed a bit off, sorry.
As a parent I would be very pleased that you take the time to blog about the kids, which would give me an insight into their daily lives.
Mstr A needs coaxing to tell me what he did at school. I try the “what did you do today” thing, but nearly always get “I don’t remember”. But clever me, I then list off a reel of all the subjects I can think of: “did you do any Art today, any painting or drawing? Did you do any maths today, any counting or shapes or pattens?” etc etc. When I hit the right one I’ll get an “Oh yes, we did……..” and a long spiel comes out, often with great detail.
It doesn’t work for LMB yet though. She just says yes to everything; “did you do any painting today?”
“yes”
“did you go to the park today?2
“yes”
“did you fly in areoplane today?”
“yes”
“did you visit the moon today?”
“yes”
You get the picture:-)
wow – LMB goes to a cool daycare! Moontrips and aeroplane flights?
🙂
And Mary – ignore those ignorant parents, and blog on. It’s a good reference point for you too!
And advertising – not that you need that! 🙂
cq
How bleeding ignorant are those parents, I like Mrs.A would be on there all the time…very odd
Most strange indeed. Thankfully, I know what the princesses do each day because they stay home with the Queen of All She Surveys and with living and working in the same town, I get to see them most lunchtimes! I’m a lucky daddy!
Even so, I love it when the Queen takes pictures of the princesses doing cute stuff. What parent wouldn’t? (Well, most of your customers excepted!)
M&Co: What a great idea! I have a friend who’s teaching grade 1 this year. I think I’ll tell her about this. And yes, I thought it would be a dream, too, but this group of parents… I dunno.
Mim: I’ll be honest. This is the reaction I was looking for when I wrote this post. I wanted to know I wasn’t over-reacting in being truly disgusted by this. So, thank you, thank you!
And I know you’re busy, don’t worry. I hope your studies are coming to a satisfactory conclusion. I also know you’ve been – that’s what trackers are for! 🙂
Si: Yes, prying information out of school-age kids can be a challenge. My son’s all-purpose answer to every school-related question has been “fine” since he was about 10. Sigh. Though I think Mrs A, below, has a good approach.
MrsA: Yes, what a great daycare she goes to! At least she’s being an agreeable little thing! I like your approach with Mstr A – priming the pump, as it were. That drop of water in the right spot, and out gushes the flow.
CQ: I do, and I am. Though I confess that this is the blog that I get far and away the most satisfaction from – and it’s because of you lot, chattering away at me. It’s lovely, I tell you, just lovely.
Aginoth: It’s a mystery to me, because they seem to be caring and involved parents, interested, in their different ways, in their children. Nope, I confess I don’t understand at all!
Simon: One of the reasons I chose this career when my marriage ended was so that I could continue to stay home with my own childen (the youngest was only 2). It’s not something I take for granted at all, and I’m both pleased and proud that I managed it.
You don’t take have your wife at home for granted, either, which is good to see: you’re right, you are a very lucky daddy!
Oh, Mary!
I would love to have someone post what my kiddos were doing when I’m not around! I can’t believe your parents aren’t checking those cuties out online each day—I love to see what they’ve been up to and they aren’t mine!
Mine give me seemingly standard answers–the 4-yr-old constantly replies “I don’t know” when asked what he did at preschool.
The 7-yr-old responds with “I don’t want to talk about it” or “Hmmph” until dinner time. Then the flood gates open and I hear probably about 70% of what she actually did all day!
Lory: Maybe we can’t imagine not checking in because we’re all bloggers, anyway? Think of all the uncommenting lurkers we know are out there. Hmm… but at least they’re there. Oh well.
The moral of your story is either “It pays to be patient”, or “Want her to talk? Feed her!” You’d know which one!
I think your blog for the kid’s parents is so sweet. I would have LOVED to have been able to access something like that when Ella was in daycare!
I’m enjoying catching up with your posts. I’m a SAHGG and my experiences with daycare are well in the past but I would have loved having a running commentary on my kids when I was working.
I’m not sure how much work would have been accomplished in between obsessively checking your blog every few minutes.