Feral
in Giggles on October 19, 2020
My friend, Christina, has adopted a feral cat and named her Velma. While Christina has “adopted” Velma, taken her to the vet, gotten her fixed, feeds her, and cares for her, the expectations are still relatively low as to how much reciprocation Velma can actually provide. After all, she is still a wildling, still skittish, still jumpy around people…still feral at heart.
Now, put a pin in that thought, as we transition into this one…
My youngest son is learning about the education system in our country in not one, not two, but three of his classes in school right now. Fun Fact: He’s LOVING IT!! He’s always had a gift for teaching. He tutors as a side hustle. And, quite honestly, I would be thrilled beyond belief for one of my boys to become a professor; so I can’t say that I’m totally surprised he’s enjoying these education units.
What IS surprising me, are the in-depth conversations he and I are having about the various forms of education available to the masses…and his VERY opinionated opinions about them all.
Here’s a short background on my family: I have three kids. Same parents. Same house. Same rules.
All three of the kids are different. They were different when they were babies. Different when they were toddlers. Elementary age—DIFFERENT. Middle School—DIFFERENT. High School—DIFFERENT.
They have similarities that tie them together, the older two, especially as they are getting older, are growing more similar…but this young one…he was of a different breed…or so I thought…until we started talking about EDUCATION.
Let me ask you something: When did you learn to read? Or to count? Or where Russia was on a map? Do you know what the longest river in the world is? Have you ever read Romeo and Juliet? Can you do long division by hand?
To be honest, I thought learning and discussing these things were a given, regardless of a public, private, parochial, or homeschool education.
I have never been more wrong.
My son introduced me to an upcoming (I suppose it’s not ‘upcoming’ the video was 10 years old) trend, called Unschooling. Parents who let their children dictate how the days, weeks, years go by. It’s a type of creative immersion into their environment.
No bedtime.
No mealtimes.
No schedules.
No discipline.
No boundaries.
Now, I have friends and family who homeschool their children…UNSCHOOLING is NOT HOMESCHOOLING. For the record, I could not homeschool my kids. For starters, my children are smarter than I am. Secondly, I don’t have the patience. Homeschooling is not for everyone. But, Unschooling…as in no school, no boundaries, no nothing. I cannot fathom that.
Unschooling parents view their children as equals. I am a grown woman, and I am STILL NOT AN EQUAL TO MY MOTHER…nor will I be.
She is my mother, and as such, she deserves, and will receive a different level of respect.
https://youtu.be/aFgVgRvmSeMhttps://youtu.be/aFgVgRvmSeM
The above video is roughly eight minutes long. My son watched this in one of his classes. He then, brought it home to me, where I sat, completely gobsmacked and speechless for at least fifteen minutes. Once I regained my ability to speak, he just looked at me and said, “I know, Mom. I know.”
He also told me, “Ya know…you and Dad did a really good job with us. We’re not wild animals. Y’all didn’t let us run and jump on things like that, but, now that I think about it, why would we? That seems like such a stupid thing to do.”
Exactly, kiddo. What a stupid thing to do…which brings me back to my friend Christina and her feral cat Velma. Velma behaves the way she does because she is a wildling. She doesn’t know any better. She was born outside with no parents, and she was a wild animal. She was and is feral. Children are not.
Children need boundaries. Children do not need to be allowed to play the xylophone with knives. Children need bedtimes, and wakin’ up times…balanced breakfasts, the Food Pyramid and even algebra (gag).
If that doesn’t sound like something you’re quite ready for…perhaps you should stick to neighborhood strays.