A long 2 days.
I let the kids design their faces however they wanted. Jake had just woken up from a nap so he was content to be the scooper of the three little ones. Almost 8 years into this parenting gig and the craft perfectionist in me is fully squashed (no pun intended! :)). Very freeing.
The three to the left have yet to be carved, though I've cut and scooped them. Soon they will say BOO. Or maybe have the kids initials. Or something along those lines.
I've been exhausted. Yesterday I just couldn't get it in gear. I taught three times and volunteered…..and snuck in two short naps in between it all. I ate everything I could get my hands on. I just felt like I was dragging, out of it, and underwater. No idea why. I was in bed early Sunday night and just….felt lousy yesterday. I went to bed by 8 pm last night and slept till 7:30 this morning. I considered playing golf today but when Tiffany and Jess wanted to run, I knew that I should take them up on that as I was playing an outing at Applebrook on Wednesday my Mom and two friends. It was chilly at the start of the run, but warned up considerably at the end of 8 hilly miles, and I feel like it shook the cobwebs away. Jess is about 4 weeks out from her very first marathon ever (she is amazing, having lost about 40 lbs and is now a weight watchers leader and actual employee, coaching and encouraging other women to help them reach their goals. She has her first (and only) 20 miler this weekend and I'm going to help her run it, splitting it with another friend as I max out my mileage these days at 10 miles to keep the hip safe. I'm so proud of her and inspired by her). I have to teach tomorrow night, so came home and worked on some new stuff for a gentle class while stretching out from the run, then did the big post weekend clean.
I can understand why some parents would consider not saving for college. They are expecting their children to "earn" their education and think they will value it more. I personally, based on my own experience, think that hinders things more than they realize.
ReplyDeleteFunding college was something we talked about in depth before we even had kids. My husband and I went to the same college, but we paid for it in very different ways. My parents were never able to save up for college for many reasons, mostly related to my dad's health, so I funded college with a mix of loans, grants, and scholarships. My parents did take out some loans to help and co-signed for others. It was very scary and when I looked at those numbers, I seriously considered not attending that school or just not going. Thankfully, I was very lucky to attend a college with a good endowment and most of my education was paid for through grants, and walked out of my undergrad with a very manageable debt. I then chose to go to graduate school with no help. I am still paying off those loans and will be for some time still. It is a source of ongoing stress for me, but I am hoping that as Rae moves to public school (hopefully) next year, we'll have some extra cash to put towards those loans.
My husband's education was paid for by his parents. Sure they got a break because they worked for a sister institution to our college, but they paid for it all. He did work to cover extra expenses, but that was more his personal drive than a requirement by his parents. His education came with strings attached. His parents expect a lot from him because they paid for it.
Coming from two very opposite ends of the spectrum, we decided that somewhere in between is right for us. I do want my kids to have to work for their education, but I don't want them to feel like they can't go to college because the prospect of paying for it is so daunting. We planned on paying for half and requiring them to cover the rest. We invested in 2 years of college tuition for them through our GET/529 program. My in-laws (without checking with us) also invested in 2 years of college tuition for them through a similar program. It doesn't completely follow our plans, but I also can't look a gift horse in the mouth. So now, the plan is that if they want to go out of state, to a private school, or take extra time, that is on them. They will also have to cover some of their living expenses. I am sure that as we get to that college time, we'll revisit this with open eyes, like we do with most of our parenting choices. :)
I love your plan and all of the thought and caring that obviously went into it. I also love that you talked about it and crafted it before you had kids. The person who I was having the discussion with had a husband who was an attorney and had seven (7) children yet thought that talking about or planning for college for one's offspring was entitled. I managed not to mention that I thought that perhaps having seven (7) children was perhaps a bit entitled, if we were going to be throwing the word around, but it took a bit of tongue biting. Since I left that part out of the post as a courtesy I can slip it into the comments, right? ;) I'm exhausted so I'm not giving your thoughtful comment the time it deserves, so forgive me. is it possible to come down with seasonal mono? I think I have it. WHEN is daylight savings coming??????????
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