Archives » 2012 » February
February16
low expectations
At this point in my life I am loving low expectations.
A few weeks ago, Zoe’s teacher emailed begging for help with their Valentine’s party. This is not something I really enjoy doing (despite having a million college credits in early childhood ed) but her email was so desperate I caved and offered to help. She asked me to bring a craft – something like fun foam (like I know what the fuck that is?) would work well. I proceeded to procrastinate wildly and ended up with a plan to “swing by” the craft store on the way to school on Valentine’s day. Ha.
Of course, there was a whole shitload of Easter crafts and very slim pickins on V-day stuff. So I cobbled together a bunch of weird foam things with sticky backs and took them in to preschool, cursing myself for being such a ridiculous procrastinator and for giving this craft zero thought. But, I could provide the alpha moms with something to snicker about, so hey! bright side!
As it turns out, the helpers for the party were me, a couple of bewildered looking dads and a foreign mom with a thick accent. Everyone seemed pleased with my stupid craft and there was a general feeling of “this is fine” which was fantastic.
This is fine. I think THIS IS FINE is my new gold standard.
This experience made me love Zoe’s preschool even more. What I love the most about it is its total average-ness. In this age of “is my kid going to the BEST preschool?” and “my kid has a preschool INTERVIEW next week” and “they’re directing their own learning at this preschool!”; I love the normal, run-of-the-mill preschool. Nice ladies, show n’ tell, circle time. I don’t want awesome. I don’t want frills. I want a place where a stupid craft is just fine.
I think we’re overdoing this parenting thing. Not that this is news. Helicopter parenting. Generation Me. How to Land Your Kid in Therapy. ETC. We are seeing that trying to give our kids the best of everything isn’t really helping them out much in the long run. Parents calling to follow up at businesses where their grown children have sent resumes? Gross.
I’m trying to focus on the beauty of low expectations both in my kids’ lives and in my own. If you have low expectations, you are often surprised and delighted and rarely let down and disappointed. Most things are fine. Not everything needs to be awesome. I let go of my iPhone a few weeks ago and the new stupid phone I have is just fine. Junie doesn’t need to wear the $40 perfect-for-growing-feet-that-she’ll-outgrow-in-two-seconds shoes; the Target ones are just fine.
The best part of this is that I think it comes naturally to little kids. My kids are perfectly happy playing in the laundry basket.
This is Fine. Should I trademark it?
