DIY Parenting

 

May 8, 2025

 

I was listening to some people talk about how school doesn’t teach kids things that will help them in real life, like balancing a checkbook. For the record, my school, back in the dark ages, did teach a lesson on it; but I already knew, because (gasp!) my parents had taught me.

 

That’s right, folks, my parents took the time to show me things that I needed to know.

 

I didn’t say to the people who were talking, “When I was 9 or 10, my dad handed me his checkbook register and said, ‘Add up those numbers.’ And it was a pretty long column, and we didn’t have a calculator. But we got the checkbook balanced.”

 

No, I said, “Schools are busy teaching things like math, English, and other useful subjects. If you want your kids to learn things like that, you can either teach them yourself or send them to Saturday school.” (I was thinking of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding, where the kids had to go to Greek school on Saturdays.)

 

One person looked like he agreed. If I’d stuck around longer, somebody might have gone into the fact that kids had activities on Saturday; and I could have said, “Your choice. Just don’t dump your responsibilities on teachers.” But it was getting loud at the venue, so I moved on.

 

But seriously, folks, try raising your kids yourselves. Don’t blame schools for not doing it.