Saturday, February 5, 2011

Paula Poundstone Re: Homework

I hate homework. Sometimes I think it's worse for the family than drugs and alcohol could ever hope to be. I didn't do my own homework. If my kids aren't smart enough to get out of theirs, why should I do it? I get mad at them for not hiding it better.

(from There's Nothing in this Book that I Meant to Say.)

9 comments:

  1. Paula Poundstone! Isn't she a regular on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me? The show that got me to stay put in my car for thirty minutes today after I found that coveted National Mall parking spot.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yep, she's the one! I'm a big fan. WWDTM is my favorite NPR show.

    ReplyDelete
  3. PsychMom says:

    I like the way Paula thinks. I encourage incorrigibility (?) in regards to homework as well....I think it's my own repressed rebellion coming out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, FedUp, I can't wait to meet you! It's my favorite NPR show too. Just love it. Everyone else talks Glee, me, I talk WWDTM.

    Dropped my husband off at work Saturday afternoon, he's swamped with a major project, and I decided to take a four hour walk while waiting for him (that dissipated into only an hour's worth but that's another story). I wasted a half hour cruising slowly, but not really wasted, just distracted by Peter Sagal. Then when I finally found a spot on the National Mall, I sat in the car for a half hour, listening to the rest of the show. I confess I do that for Car Talk too!

    The day our boneheaded Congress decides to cut NPR is the day I stage my own massive protest.God forbid something intelligent should remain on the airwaves.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is interesting...I, too, listen to WWDTM every week. There can't be *that* many people who listen to it, so what does that say about the type of people who are fed up with homework and the way schools operate?

    ReplyDelete
  6. PsychMom, the mom from Snowy River says.....
    (Maybe that should be the name of my blog, should I ever start one.)

    Up here we have the CBC which, from the sounds of it, is similar to NPR. The CBC is a Canadian icon, the national radio and television network that connects us all. Well, at least if you're over the age of 35..or 40. The Radio network in particular attracts older listeners because of the talk shows and classical music. I think our mentality about homework and schooling does comes out of our life stage and being "older" parents....

    ReplyDelete
  7. PsychMom- Agreed re: "older" parents. All of your posts (here and on stop homework) are very wise and enlightened. Once you are over forty, the life experience you have gives you a longer view of life. Ideas and philsophies you assumed were "true" began to look like opinions and judgements. When I have discussed homework and "success" with younger mothers, they can't seem to seperate (or question) what motivates them as mothers to always push their kids into achieving at such a young age.

    I think balance and renewal are difficult concepts for many younger parents to understand.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Paula is always very funny ...However I did see her say once she was doing the kids homework and was finally getting good grades lol! She also said she just finished a shoe box diorama science project and that " few people know
    the practice of shoe box dioramas was stared by a shoe salesmen "

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anne, she's being tongue in cheek. She's mocking the whole process, I think, and is making a point that a lot of parents do their kids' homework. She's mocking the whole absurd premise and laughing all the way to the bank.

    ReplyDelete