The First Quarter of school ended and as we wait for the “School Report Cards”, I’ve been reflecting on all the things my kids have learned OUTSIDE the academic classroom – from LIFE.
Here is what we have accomplished at “The Ruetten Academy of Real World Learning!”
DD15.1
- Begin Freshman Year of High School with a campus of more than 3200 students.
- Try out for the HS Soccer Team
- Make the HS Freshman Team
- Set Alarm: Make Breakfast: Pack: Lunch, Water Bottles, Soccer Gear, & Backpack to get out the door
- Clean the Kitchen without prompting during DNSN Week!
- Do Laundry each night as needed to have clean soccer gear
- Time Manage: Practice, Homework, Social Media, Home Life, School Life, HS Football Game Social Life…and more
- Run a meeting as the President of her NCL Class of 28 girls
- Choose to be late to practice to attend 504 meeting to discuss her dyslexia with her teachers and counselor
- Adjust to the rules, policies, expectations, and preferences of 6 teachers, 1 coach, a new club team staff
- Turn 15
- Survive NOT being asked to Homecoming – and be excited for other girls when they get asked
- Plan and Shop for a “Girl’s Night Out Party” at our home
- Invite girls, change plans when some can’t go to certain theater, learn candy preferences of friends
- Make business cards for Babysitting Services and pass them out to neighbors
- Wash a Car, detail a bathroom
- Go to the LV Strip to Fright Night with extended (extended) family
- Meet a boy through mutual friends on social media
- R rated means 17… and parents will not go to the ticket window to buy a ticket for you to go with friends
- Go on a movie “date” with a boy and his family
- Introduce his parents to her parents
- Manage girlfriends as they adjust to a “Boyfriend”
- Adjust to the end of HS soccer season and begin a Club Team schedule
- Display family cooperation and flexibility for Brothers
DS12.10
- Call businesses to get information
- Pick up new schedule, meet teachers, figure out a new school locker and PE locker, adjust to new lunch schedule (without all his buddies)
- Learn how to work an alarm clock, get up at 5:50am, make lunch, get stuff in dishwasher, remember to brush teeth, get backpack and walk to the bus stop
- Do laundry, change a bed, dust and vacuum, wash a car
- Be patient with the Guitar Store that wouldn’t pay him
- Find out the process of filing a suit in Small Claims Court
- Getting paid (finally)….feeling great…going to the bank to learn that if you don’t have an account they charge $5 to cash a check
- Adjust to an event of oversleeping and get to school late
- Bike ride to Starbucks and work debit card
- Learn that buying junk food is a privilege that comes with the responsibility of eating meals which include fruits and vegetables
- Order Halloween contact lenses online with his own debit card
- Learn how to put the contact lenses in…and take them out…and then learn that if you don’t soak them in solution- they dry up ($40 lesson)
- Discover the value of a lot of things by watching “Pawn Shop” and “American Pickers”
- That sleepovers are overrated and that it is ok to come home around 9:00pm
- Make waffles from scratch with an old waffle iron
- Research turtles and snakes and find out there is a place to volunteer to help animals …Call for info
- Negotiate his way out of Lacrosse Fall Ball by offering to pay the $100 fee
- Discover that Frozen Custard gives a stomach ache
- Start a mini-business making rubber band bracelets. Having a partner (who is your brother) is a bad idea.
- Set up an Ebay Account….and then a PayPal account by yourself
- Sell an iPhone and have the buyer not pay…learn that you have to be 18 years old to have an eBay account
- Sell iPhone on Mom’s account, transfer money from PayPal to bank account, learn about Seller Fees and PayPal fees
- Research new iPhone, go to AT&T store to order new 5s phone with debit card…begin to wait patiently for 3-4 weeks with “old broken screen” phone
- Procrastinate a project…choose not to do it… wait for consequences (still in progress)
- Breaking the agreement to give up the Halloween candy by throwing it all over your room, doesn’t let you keep the candy
- Call golf courses to set up a Tee Time
- Call a barber to set up a haircut
DS11.9
- Learn to make a lunch, work and set an alarm for 5:50am, put things in a dishwasher, empty a dishwasher, wash a car
- Start school with over 700 other 6th graders who all have lunch at the same time
- Adjust to 6 teachers and various new coaches
- Learn about laundry and decide putting it in the washer and dryer are the funnest parts- putting it away next – folding last favorite
- Call to order pizza and pay the driver with cash including a tip (“Why do they get a tip?”)
- When you use Mom’s ebay account and decide you don’t want that item anymore…Learn to…
- Set up an Ebay account…set up a Paypal account
- That when you overspend in your iTunes account, they automatically know when you put money into your debit card account
- What non-sufficient funds would look like if you didn’t have a Teen Checking account that just halts spending when you are out of cash
- Manage sport time and realize that playing 3 sports is almost impossible
- Start your homework at 9pm…no one is around to keep you company
- Procrastinate a big reading project…declare you will never do that again…and then procrastinate an English project…(outcome still to be determined)
- Hack into most every device with a password and show Mom how clever you are…(she now creates crazy passwords)
- If you don’t get your stuff out of “Lost and Found” you run the risk of having team uniforms, expensive shoes, and electronics go to the Goodwill
- Waiting to catch a ride with the High School schedule makes it too close to the tardy bell
- Agreements are tough to keep and the new program requires responsibilities for privileges.
- Telling your Mom that “No one likes you or this program”….doesn’t really change anything
- 3 days equals 72 hours…not 2 nights (“But we started the clock on Thurs at 9pm…so I should be able to go to the skatepark on Sat AM”)
- How do I get a new phone with the Apple Care insurance I bought (“Glad I bought that”!)
- Cracked screens can cut your finger
- Saving $49 is hard! Buying “Clash of the Clan app Gems” goofs that up week after week.
- Parents don’t loan money
- Lose a phone and discover that when there is no power the “Find my iPhone app” does not work
- Sell iPad. Learn about fees. Discover that new eBay users have a 21 day hold on their money with Paypal.
- Learn about the post office and Signature Confirmation options.
- Find a phone and have a good attitude about selling the iPad.
- Instagram is a great way to market rubber band bracelets.
- Ask for the privilege to have sleepovers and discover that if you don’t sit down to make a list of responsibilities, the clock can’t start
- Procrastination causes anxiety
- Too much sugar means I have a headache at night (still learning this one over and over and over…)
- Meltdowns mean no skatepark (“But I can control my temper everywhere but at home!”)
- It feels good to make two clutch free throws in the last seconds of the basketball game.
- Shin guard rash can get yucky.
- Dirty clothes smell. (But maybe no one will notice)
- If I don’t brush my teeth, the orthodontist will notice and call me out about it and mention that it can cause permanent marks. (What will happen at the next visit if I still don’t do it?)
- Halloween is more about spending time with friends than worrying about candy.
- The Apple store is offering a $245 buy back on iPhone 5 to apply to an iPhone 5s (but there is a $36 upgrade fee unless you get a new phone number)
- 6th grade is really hard with “a lot of distractions”… (his quote)
- If you don’t feed the dog, she gets hungry.
- Donating $5 at church feels good (even if I did it with the hopes of having mom change her mind about the skatepark)
- Clash of the Clans can be expensive (Ummmm Mom has learned this…not sure the boy has yet…but he has stated: “Don’t judge me by my iTunes account!”)
What are a few things we have learned (or are still trying to learn)…?
- Life takes perseverance, ambition, passion, guts, courage, soul, heart, attitude, humor, love, creativity, and joy
- Character is more important than GPA (and learning life lessons takes a lot of work!)
- We have amazing kids!….and they are learning….so are we…by…
…and holding on tight for the adventure!
(stumbled on this quote….)
“I hope I remember everything,” said Toni.
“You won’t,” said Trapp. “That’s how you learn. But after you make the same mistake one, or two, or five times, you’ll eventually get it. And then you’ll make new mistakes.”
― Louis Sachar, The Cardturner: A Novel about a King, a Queen, and a Joker
Parenting Teens 