Perfect example of an imperfect mother

The email from my girlfriend didn't come with an electronic red flag or even the letters "SOS" in the subject line, but it was filled with urgency nonetheless.

"Give me some words of wisdom, because I actually am overwhelmed to the point of panic about all the excess details school adds to our day," Kathleen wrote. Her older daughter recently started kindergarten, and Kathleen is fast discovering this is nothing like preschool.

Kathleen is a single adoptive mom

Puleese! What the heck is that?

This whole story is wrong, wrong, wrong. It's all about HER, not her "children".

That's what being a parent means. Total sacrifice for your children.

Why did she adopt if she was single? Kids should have a mother and father.

I can understand couples who can't conceive, but if you're going to adopt you should as least be married (a man and a woman marriage).

Why did she adopt if she couldn't deal with the stress of being a Mom?

My Ma had eight of us and we were all loved for and cared for by both our parents.

As any military wives out there know, it's not easy being a military wife and Mom, but my Ma soldiered through and sacrificed.

I feel so sorry for those adopted kids, they are going to be SOOO screwed up.

As the father of a third grader, I got the requisite start-of-year pitch to come join the PTA. I join every year, and every year the same thing happens: cliques of control freak super moms who brook no babbling. This year was more egregious than usual however. The fall kick off meeting's highlight was to "vote" on the local chapter's yearly budget. It was made clear that this budget would be approved. I have never even seen the budget, much less been afforded the opportunity to comment or suggest revisions. Show up, vote yes, and don't cause trouble!

Everything they do is to raise money. Teachers need paper for their class, pencils for their class, chalk and erasers for their class. The printer needs toner.. on and on and on..

Meanwhile the school board is setting up digs in their new $40 Million administration building complete with $4,000 desks and commissioned artwork. No kids allowed. Meanwhile the school board is blithely requiring some children to spend upwards of an hour each way on school buses to achieve racial diversity. Besides being a burden to children and parents, it drastically increases their chance of injury from accident (statistically speaking) and wastes one hell of a lot of diesel fuel. Meanwhile the school board cries poverty! and slaps together more butler building school sheds out in the athletic fields and styles them classrooms.

Where is the PTA curriculum review committee? Where is the PTA Disciplinary Policy Advisory committee? Where is the PTA Education Budget oversight committee? Why does not one parent have the option to review the selected educational materials and offer feedback?

I didn't want to contend with the Betty-drones in their hard won feifdoms again this year. They already think I must be from another planet.

Don't bother trying to answer the questions above. Those committees don't exist. And I believe the teachers need those extra-budget items like pencils and paper precisely because it keeps the Betty-Drones too busy extorting nickels and dimes from children and their parents to notice that they have no authority or voice in their children's education at all.

< /rant>

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