School holidays always provoke mixed feelings, don’t they?

On one hand we don’t need to drag the kids out of their beds in the morning, on the other - we all dread the possibility that by the end of the holiday they will be unrecognizable digital zombies.

Suddenly, we turn into these event organizers, desperately trying to inject some anti-mind-numbing activities into their schedules.

The teacher normally makes sure a healthy dosage of homework is out there to assist you with that goal. But what the teacher forgets is to send us that magic wand that gets kids to sit down and DO their homework. Enter: The dread of getting back to school UNPREPARED. By a show of hands (I promise not to tell) How many of you have already managed to have a major fight with your kid over the school holiday chores?

Now, how crazy is that???? Our kids are pretty loveable, aren’t they? So why in the world should we find ourselves wasting precious time, aggravation, and mental health over some school project?

I must admit as an educator myself; I had a complicated relationship with homework, but mostly with the way it effects the relationship between parents and their kids. I want to share with you what I always ask parents:

What is it that really worries us about our kids failing to do their homework?

Is it that we fear they will not grow to be independent productive adults? Yes?

Possibly. So… We hope to avoid that with constant nagging and helicopter parenting?

Maybe we worry about the teacher being upset with them. Yes? So, we make sure that we (their parents that matter to them the most) give them hell to avoid discontentment of their teacher?

Or is it really us, the parents that feel tested here by the teachers, and we are the ones who fear failing our own exam?

To that I have plenty to say, but I will not. I will leave it to your imagination.

Am I saying homework doesn’t matter?

Well… Sometimes it really doesn’t. At other times, we can help our kids plan their schedule, support them, help them meet their own goals as we remember our job is strictly to give them tools to succeed and quickly get out of their way to success (including the parts where they must fail before succeeding).

We have such little and precious time with them.

I personally believe it is best spent doing the things that make us happy, collecting unforgettable memories and building a bond that will serve as the best of shields for our children’s journey to their own destination.