Why have children if you just want them out of the house?

ora_43

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 2:58 am

amother [ Hotpink ] wrote:

THIS!!

2 months home alone with my kids would be SO much more enjoyable if we could at least leave the apartment!

RIGHT????

My kid got a "summer safety" coloring book from gan that included a warning not to go outside between 10 am and 4 pm and I was like WHY JUST WHY.

Join me in pushing for a new vacation schedule - extended vacation around chagim instead of in the summer. I'd happily take another couple weeks around Pesach or Sukkot, the weather is great then.

Aylat

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 3:40 am

Jewishfoodie wrote:

(I really had them so when my husband came home and said, "Who ate the entire box of 12 donuts?" I was able to point to kids who may have eaten them. I couldn't answer of course, with a mouthful of donuts... But who would I blame if there were no kids? Honestly! I thought that was obvious. There is no other reason to go through the hassle..)

Check out Rashi when Rachel named Yosef.

Aylat

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 3:49 am

ora_43 wrote:

Yes! I have been saying this for ages! I would love to be taking my kids on hikes and hanging out at the park, but who can deal with temperatures in the high 30s all the time?

Plus 9 weeks unstructured time is too much for anyone. There should be three weeks to a month three times a year instead. Why does school need to start the day after isru chag? Give another week each time.

Aylat

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 3:56 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I often see posts both here and elsewhere about how parents wish their children would just go back to school already, or complaining about days off. I don’t get it. Why did you have all these children if you don’t want them around?

The posts on this thread have been awesome, but if it's a serious question I'll give a serious answer.

1) I genuinely love hanging out with my kids. I am also an introvert and can't spend all day every day with anyone - adults or children - without going out of my mind, or at least being seriously depleted.

2) See my previous post. 9 weeks unstructured time is not good for anyone. Some of my kids are great at finding projects and activities, some at least had a few weeks half-day day camp. But at least one of my kids is seriously struggling - worsening emotional and behavioral issues - because of the lack of external structure.

3) I'm 3rd trimester pregnancy and exhausted. I can't get through the day without a nap. I'm lucky that my kids are old enough to be left while I crash out for an hr+. Someone with younger kids who are home all day right now, simply might not be coping.

byisrael

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 4:20 am

ora_43 wrote:

Lets start a movement!!!!
Whole month of Nissan
3 weeks sukkot
3 weeks in august
1 week in the winter (the teachers would never agree to less vacation and 9 weeks summer + 2 weeks chagim would equal 12 weeks )

It would be way better for the kids 'cause they need the break but I find that after 3 weeks they need the regular schedule back. Also there wouldn't be this huge gap in the summer where all the learning is lost and has to be redone....
And the teachers would burnout less cause they have

Lets speak to the Sar chinuch!!!
Whoops it's a memshelet maavar they can't do anything....
Forget it - lets just kvetch

yerushamama

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 4:33 am

byisrael wrote:

Sounds like the cheder system! The only problem eith this schedule is having young kids undefoot while peasach cleaning, otherwise, it works great for us!

Aylat

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 4:43 am

yerushamama wrote:

Sounds like the cheder system! The only problem eith this schedule is having young kids undefoot while peasach cleaning, otherwise, it works great for us!

Yeah, my modification would be: from a week before Pesach (as it is at the moment) till the end of Nissan. And more time at Chanuka instead.

Aylat

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 4:47 am

byisrael wrote:

Lets speak to the Sar chinuch!!!
Whoops it's a memshelet maavar they can't do anything....
Forget it - lets just kvetch

I was so pleased when Bennett added another 10 misrad hachinuch kaytana days - and then I discovered it was 5 at Chanuka and 5 at Pesach. It should have been all in the summer! (Not that I'm complaining about the erev Pesach.)

And the memshelet maavar situation Mad

But I'm getting off topic.

byisrael

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 4:47 am

The Bais Yaakov girls have regular vacation

Also the cheder system only gives of from Rosh Chodesh until Thru Pesach - this idea would give another week after pesach, same for sukkot.... teachers gotta get the same number of off days unless you want hafganot....

ra_mom

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 6:20 am

ora_43 wrote:

Because if you want to conduct psychological experiments on other people's children, you need to run it past a committee.

Because now I have an excuse for everything from the house being a wreck to not calling my grandmother to the fact that my stomach looks like a marshmellow that's been through the microwave.

Because now there's finally someone around who I can beat at board games.

Oh the visual! Rolling Laughter

Iymnok

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 9:00 am

No one had a childhood dream to grow up and have children just so that they could have the honor of paying tuition? Of course you’d complain about days off, it’s one day less to pay for!

Jewishfoodie

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 9:09 am

Aylat wrote:

Check out Rashi when Rachel named Yosef.

I was basing it on that Rashi. I was so mad at Leah I remember, as a young child. And poor Rochel also wanted a messy house! Like us!

ETA: No, I'm not still mad at her.. Calm down. I was a child! I was also angry at aishes Potifar. I just didn't know why. Maybe it's built in to our DNA

amother

Hotpink

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 10:22 am

amother [ Ruby ] wrote:

Because I had kids, I can't jump on a trampoline! unless I put in a panty liner Can't Believe It

Omg I tried jumping rope the other day for the first time since I had 4 kids and was shocked!! Is this motherhood? :O
They need to include the inability to jump postpartum in those pregnancy books!

amother

Jetblack

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 10:25 am

amother [ Purple ] wrote:

Because what other excuse would I have to get down on the floor and build a huge magnatile tower?

Last year my brother in law actually asked my sister for magna tiles for his chanukah gift. No kids yet

amother

Papaya

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 10:44 am

Because I love them so much, it hurts. They fill my life with meaning and purpose.

And I'm looking forward to school restarting, especially for my teen daughter, who is clearly ready to love her own children so much that it hurts, and have a life of meaning and purpose outside my home : )

ectomorph

Thu, Aug 08 2019, 10:53 am

urban gypsy wrote:

You say this a lot. If it wasn't a mitzva (or if you weren't Jewish) would you still have done it?

Probably not. If I hadn't grown up religious, I would have easily been convinced to focus on my strong point, which is academics, to the exclusion of all else. I'd probably be a famous professor or mathematician or scientist.

If you don't have a higher purpose, it's easy to end up without a family or stable community.

I would never have known what I missed out on. BH that I chose to serve Hashem and not to waste my life that way.