Who Is the Student Anyway?

When I got to school to pick up the kids, the zoo was set up outside of Jack's classroom.  His Bonnietaur, the one I bragged about earlier, was by far the most basic, simplistic creation there.  Absolutely no comparison; it was totally amateurish compared to the other entries.  You know what?  I'm prouder than ever of it.  Why?  Because HE did it.

There is no way that the four or five-year olds in his class created the perfect papier-mâché giraffe or the decoupaged ladybug I saw.  Maybe the kids assisted but those works of art had Mommy and Daddy written all over them which is a shame.  It's preschool -- nothing is getting graded and the project was supposed to be FUN not perfect.  Why step in and take over, robbing a kid of a chance to use his imagination or hone her creative skills?

Did I help Jack?  Yes, I cut out the picture of Bonnie for him which he could have done himself but he has trouble with fine scissor work.  It would have taken a tree's worth of printer paper before he cut out her face to his exacting standards.  (Safety scissors are not great for lefties as I well know.)  Other than cutting, the project was Jack's masterpiece from idea conception to final touches as it should be.  It was his assignment; what kind of message would I be sending if I did the work while he observed from the sidelines?

Of course I will help him if he ever gets stuck on a project.  I'm here if he wants to bounce ideas off of me and I'll gladly do any research he needs done until he can read on his own.  Otherwise, I expect him to handle his own schoolwork now and going forward.  Part of my job as a parent is to instill in him a sense of responsibility, a strong work ethic and confidence in his own abilities.  It just burns me up to know that down the road when grades are on the line, he'll be competing against his peers' parents rather than his peers in some cases.   I'm sure this was true in some instances when I was a child as well but I feel like parents are much more enabling of this generation than they were when I was a child.