Fueled on half a pot of coffee, I dropped off Jonah at the school door at 8:45. Ian was deposited at his pre-school fifteen minutes later. Then backshift. Peeled out of the church driveway. Into first, second, third, forth gear and roared back to Jonah’s elementary school where it was Field Day.
On Field Day, the school has a series of outside relay races and obstacle courses for the kids. The kids dressed in matching tie-dyed t-shirts and were as cute as pie. Parents volunteered to help out, watched the kids frolic outside, and schmoozed with the teachers. While Ian was in school, I had a quick hour to do my schmoozing and make Jonah feel special because his mom was there.
How did I find out about this Field Day? Was there a notice in the mail or a note sent home from the teacher? No, I found out about it from another mom at the bus pickup spot.
Sometimes parenting is out of the dark ages. Information is only spread through whispers at corners or overheard conversations at the supermarket. Hello. Internet. Why isn’t all this stuff on line?
I spent two hours yesterday figuring out all the summer activities for the kids. There’s the town pool, the town recreation and soccer lessons for one, and speech therapy boot camp for the other. I almost missed the deadline for the town pool, but an overheard conversation got me to the town center in time. I spoke to another mother today at Field Day who missed every deadline.
It’s so inefficient. Nobody has created a website that centralizes community affairs and notifies parents about key events at the school. Especially with all the working parents today, I’m surprised that nobody has streamlined things and made parenting more professional.
Apt. 11d 
Actually, I’m working on a project this summer that does just that. We got a grant to create a community web site focused mainly on parenting resources. This will include guides to schools, after-school programs, summer programs, places to go for help and counseling, etc. When it’s done, I’ll send you the link. It’s through our political science department and it’s funded through a Mellon grant. Maybe you could take that on? 🙂
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I never know what’s going on, but it has always seemed to me like the other parents do, so I figured it was just me, or being a working mom, or living in a red-state suburban town where it still seems to be the 50s… It’s not so much the resources that Laura mentions in her comment. It’s daily school life like field day or needing to bring in ribbons for the basket project. And I’m not sure having it online would help, because then I’d need to remember to check the website. Perhaps regular emails from the teacher/school?
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We’re very lucky here. My kindergartener’s teachers send notes home in his daily folders plus a weekly newsletter, and each teacher at his school maintains a web page-his teacher updates daily. There’s also a local parenting magazine that comes out monthly with a calendar listing all sorts of kid stuff.
That being said, I’m spending this morning tearing apart my office looking for the flier that was sent home with swim lesson information. All the technology in the world can’t cure me of my scatter-brainedness, I guess.
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