Even though I went to public school my entire life, there are times where it didn’t seem like it. Throughout most of my life, my parents were very much involved in my education, to the point where it seemed like I was half home-schooled.
One of the fondest memories I have of my formative years was during the summer months. My mother would buy these massive workbooks containing information on mathematics or some other subject and have me work on them in exchange for free time. “You get to play on the computer for two hours if you do this, this, and this.” Man, those were the days. Of course, I nowadays can play on the computer however long I want so long as I complete all of my chores and write up this blog post.
But I digress. Those workbooks had the desired effect. When I completed them over the summer, my grades during the school year would improve by leaps and bounds. I was ahead of the curve when it came to my math grades because the material was taught to me before I even walked into the classroom!
But my mother’s teaching role didn’t stop when summer break ended. She was very active with my public-school education, especially in my earlier years. She got to know the teachers and administrators up at my school, and if I misbehaved, she’d know about that through her social network. She was involved in my schools’ parent volunteer groups like the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), helping to organize and set up special events like Christmas parties.
Every day, I’m thankful for my mother’s hard work and effort, even if I don’t always show it. It’s a wonderful thing to have a mom this active in my life. It’s even better that my mom was once a public-school teacher, so she knew her way around the school system, knew how to speak to teachers, knew how to teach ninth grade math.
My dad also had a hand in my education, though in a much subtler way. He was hard at work on most days of the week, but when he was around, he would give me pointers on how to speak to others. He instructed me on what questions to ask others, how to emotionally engage with another person in a conversation, and the like. Who’d know that a salesman like him would make for a really good speech therapist?
This sort of interaction I had with my parents was unique in many regards. I had autism, so they felt it was necessary to spend more time than usual on me. Looking back now, I’d say I probably needed it. When it came to normal classroom interactions, I was a bit hopeless. I had a lot of friends, but only a few I felt comfortable talking with. And in hindsight, I was also a hopeless mess that would slack off if I didn’t have someone watching over me. I needed to have that push to succeed, that push to thrive, that push to learn, else I would just do my own thing.
Having your parents around to push you and educate you is, in many ways, a privilege. My parents could have easily outsourced all of my learning to teachers, therapists, and daycare centers. They could have made the decision so many other parents make and left me in the hands of the experts. But they didn’t. My mom quit her job so that she could focus 100% of her effort on raising me and my brother, while my dad worked extra hard at his job to earn a living wage for his family. They were and still are heroic.
I hope that, one day, whoever will be my wife and I will be a good a parent for our children as my parents were for myself and my brother. While I don’t know everything, I do know what to do for sure: be super-active in my child’s education. I will need to make sure that whoever’s teaching him will teach correctly. I want to befriend all of my child’s teachers so that they all know my expectations. And over the summer, I’ll be giving my kid the best homeschooling money will buy!
This Mother’s Day’s week, I give thanks to all the mothers out there. Thank you for taking care of your sons and daughters. And I give an extra-special thank you to my mom, who worked so hard to help me.
Great job in recognizing how much your mom and dad did to help you succeed. I know they would do it all over again!!!
Very sweet and special. Thank you for sharing, Brent.
A wonderful tribute to your parents! I know they are very proud of you, as well as your grandparents (Jeanette and Archie Holub)!
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