We should always find ways to celebrate the little things in life. What better day to celebrate these little things than the best day of the week? So, here are the things that make this a Fabulous Friday for me this week.
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- SHE MADE IT – For those of you who were wondering, Holly made the varsity poms team.
In fact, she made the varsity poms team for football and for basketball, and she made the varsity poms competition team – one of two other freshmen to make all three teams. She is excited,
and I am excited for her. Now, I have to go dig out my stadium seats and blankets again since we will be going back to high school football games!
- #NATIONALWALKOUTDAY – Parenting comes with all sorts of doubts and worries about whether you are raising your children to be responsible adults, but I have found that your children will show you just how well you are doing at a surprisingly young age. On Wednesday, Holly’s school district opted to punish any student who participated in the walkout with a 30-minute detention. Their reasoning, based on an email from the superintendent of the district, is that they a) were thinking of the safety of the kids outside, b) could not condone protesting this one time because then they would have to condone future protesting, and c) were providing the students an opportunity to really show their passion for the protest because it means more to protest with consequences than without them. (Commence eyerolling.) Jim and I left it up to Holly. If she wanted to participate, we would have no problems with her serving a detention. If she did not want to participate, she was under no obligation to do anything. None of her friends wanted to participate, so we were not certain what she would do. Well, folks, she walked out of school as one of 87 kids out of 200+ students in her school to do so. I am SO proud of the fact that she felt strongly enough about this issue to not just stand up and take action but to do so knowing that she was facing punishment for doing so. She did not let the teachers who were trying to herd them into the gym stop her from walking outside but did what she felt was right. We have said it for the last month but these kids really are our future, and if they all remain vocal and continue to take action about important topics, I have hope that they will succeed where we have failed them.
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What makes this a Fabulous Friday for you?
Yay, Holly!! For making the Poms Teams and for walking out!!! You have an amazing daughter, Michelle.
Thank you, Brandie!
I already felt so proud of Holly for making the team, and then when you added on top of that the fact that she chose to walk out, I got kind of teary honestly. What a terrific kid you’ve raised. <3
Aw, thanks Jenny! She makes me teary too as I have never seen a teenager so comfortable in her own skin and so open to frank discussions about pretty much anything. I was so afraid to have a daughter because I did not want her to be like me or to have the same experiences growing up. She is so different from me that we can be friends and I can still be her parent without damaging either relationship.
Go Holly!!
I, too, left it up to the boys to decide what to do. Justin’s school gave the students a safe place to walk out, including police escorts to protect them as they walked. The teen’s threatened suspension (but since 200 kids walked out, I don’t thik that’s going to happen).
I knew the teen wouldn’t (that’s just not his thing, though he wrote an AWESOME essay on gun control this week). Justin didn’t walk out of school, but opted to go to a “walk out session” that allowed students to come together and voice their opinions on what’s going on.
Connor wouldn’t have done so either. His biggest move is going to be voting. She is much more outspoken, and we have discussed a lot in the last two years how important it is to stand up for your beliefs, especially as a woman. I am so stinking proud of her for walking her own path.
Good for Holly, and for you for supporting her–on ALL fronts!
Thanks, Florinda!
Good for her on both accounts!
We couldn’t do the walk out because it’s spring break here, but Texas has one scheduled for April sometime, and I know some of my kids at least will participate. They’ll be punished – so far, at least – with an unexcused absence, and I’m okay with that.
Exactly. I saw someone post on Twitter that if they were concerned about being suspended for walking out of class for 17 minutes to think of the fact that it makes for a much better college entrance essay to say that you were punished for standing up for your beliefs and exercising your right to protest than one about how soccer formed your study habits or other such inane topic. As for being suspended, I seriously question any school that would suspend a student for walking out of class for 17 minutes. After all, it’s like an extended bathroom break!
Good for your daughter! I teach in a district that also did not support the walkout, but mine did not attach any consequences for kids who chose to walkout. Most students at the high school and a large number at the middle schools did walkout and I’m SO proud of them. I’d have liked to join them, but was forced to stay behind in the classroom with the few who opted to stay.
Holly told me even a few kids at the intermediate school walked out (grades 4-6), and I am acting like they are my kids because I am so impressed by that. It certainly is not something I would have ever done at that age because I didn’t find my voice until I was almost twenty.
I am proud of each and every student who walked out no matter if they had consequences or not. As I told Holly last night, to take a stand at any age is difficult. To take a stand as a tween or teen is particularly difficult because it means removing yourself from the safety of the pack. I hope this is a sign of more great things to come!