"I can't decide, Mom. You choose."
Emily and I stood in the battle zone better known as the "back-to-school" aisle for K12 grades . Shopping for back-to-school items is definitely not one of our most fun family activities. But we had come, we'd seen and we'd conquered. Our cart bulged with notebooks, pencils, glue sticks and, of course, clothes.
We had come to the most critical of all fourth-grade decisions: The Backpack. After eliminating contenders in two malls and a department store, we were down to our final draft picks. We'd measured their capacity, examined their pockets and tried them on for size. Both seemed equally cool and up to the rigors of fourth-grade service.
Although she danced from foot to foot and called on all her powers of logic, she couldn't bring herself to leave one behind. I finally pointed her to the checkout and grabbed the one with the attached coin purse (No lost lunch money this year!)
Poor girl. Heredity is a fearsome thing. After all, I'm the one whose refrigerator magnet proclaims, "Indecision is the key to flexibility." Indecision has been one of the toughest of parents' issues for me.
While flexibility is a decided asset, indecision is not the most coveted quality in a parent. From the moment a child slips into this world, her parents are bombarded with choices. Bottle or breast; cloth or disposable; sling or baby carrier? By the time they require an education, the stakes have risen. Montessori or cooperative; half-day or full-day; uniforms, dress code or anything goes?
Making Choices
Some choices are easy. Do I volunteer the day my second-grader dissects a sheep's eye? (Not in this lifetime.)
Others can break your heart. Do I escort my 4-year-old to her first day of preschool or visit her dying grandpa in another town?
Some choices empower us. Some parents choose to sacrifice time and money to teach their children at home or pay tuition to schools better equipped to meet their unique needs.
The great thing about living in America is that we are allowed a lot of choices, from the brands of breakfast cereal we eat to the type of neighborhood in which we live.
Most choices come with a price, though. And when that price is more than we can pay, we're sometimes stuck with what others leave behind. This happens to hundreds of families whose children are trapped in failing schools.
Meanwhile, dozens of school-year decisions await. Like how many extra-curricular activities are good, or even healthy, for my kids? Which volunteer activities can I fit into my schedule? And of course Emily's daily dilemma: what will I wear today?
In the end, though, she made her own decision about backpacks. Halfway through the check-out, she grabbed my selection, ran back and exchanged it for the one we'd left behind. Conviction had triumphed over confusion.
So bring on the long division, fractions and the standardized tests. She's chosen The Backpack, and she's ready.
Linda Wacyk is a former EduGuide editor from Grand Ledge, Michigan.