last week, we visit the campus of the university of miami ... not to scout for possible schools for the kids, but to pick up some t-shirts and shorts from the university bookstores. palm trees sway gently back and forth in the breeze, standing sentinel over the oncoming traffic. students mill about casually, looking as if they're on an abc sunday night movie.
as all of our friends head north, south, east and west, scouting colleges for their kids, it strikes us that although this next step seems to be looming large on the horizon, it's also a million miles away from where we are right now. how will the kids be prepared for this huge step in a few years? how will we be prepared for it?
our days have a rhythm that revolves around the kids ... after school snack. driving to and from hebrew school, baseball games, friends houses. family dinners in the early evening, not to mention preparing for said dinners, and shopping for them too (oh, did i mention the ever lovely cleanup?).
what will it be like when they've flown the coop? are we really ready for that?
on the u of m campus, it seems as if EVERYTHING is weighted towards the godlike glorification of the 'hurricanes' (sports team of some sort - baseball? shotput? football? who knows? who cares?). the minibuses that move the students to and from are emblazoned with the 'canes' logo (and are, in fact, called 'hurry-canes' buses - ugggghhh!). i don't recall seeing any buses espousing the virtues of medical research, or legal posturing on the subject of detention at guantanamo. so parents, take comfort in the knowledge that your $50K annual tuition is going to support that most critical of all campus activities - that bastion of higher learning, the very pinnacle of intellectual success ... the college football team.
jane and i are not sure if we're more horrified or perplexed by this phenomena. i supposed it's kind of a 50/50 mix ... and kind of makes us just scratch our heads and wonder (aloud!) what the heck this is all about? no wonder this country seems to be full of ignorant people who think it's funny and cute to be sort of dim witted. we're all in a football crazed, corn-syrup induced frenzy of happiness and fun (guess we're in the sugar-rush-crash period of our history right now).
never mind, just when all hope is lost, we turn on 93.9 and listen to national public radio - eureka, there ARE actually a few coherent and questioning people walking around.
too bad that they're in the minority.
as all of our friends head north, south, east and west, scouting colleges for their kids, it strikes us that although this next step seems to be looming large on the horizon, it's also a million miles away from where we are right now. how will the kids be prepared for this huge step in a few years? how will we be prepared for it?
our days have a rhythm that revolves around the kids ... after school snack. driving to and from hebrew school, baseball games, friends houses. family dinners in the early evening, not to mention preparing for said dinners, and shopping for them too (oh, did i mention the ever lovely cleanup?).
what will it be like when they've flown the coop? are we really ready for that?
on the u of m campus, it seems as if EVERYTHING is weighted towards the godlike glorification of the 'hurricanes' (sports team of some sort - baseball? shotput? football? who knows? who cares?). the minibuses that move the students to and from are emblazoned with the 'canes' logo (and are, in fact, called 'hurry-canes' buses - ugggghhh!). i don't recall seeing any buses espousing the virtues of medical research, or legal posturing on the subject of detention at guantanamo. so parents, take comfort in the knowledge that your $50K annual tuition is going to support that most critical of all campus activities - that bastion of higher learning, the very pinnacle of intellectual success ... the college football team.
jane and i are not sure if we're more horrified or perplexed by this phenomena. i supposed it's kind of a 50/50 mix ... and kind of makes us just scratch our heads and wonder (aloud!) what the heck this is all about? no wonder this country seems to be full of ignorant people who think it's funny and cute to be sort of dim witted. we're all in a football crazed, corn-syrup induced frenzy of happiness and fun (guess we're in the sugar-rush-crash period of our history right now).
never mind, just when all hope is lost, we turn on 93.9 and listen to national public radio - eureka, there ARE actually a few coherent and questioning people walking around.
too bad that they're in the minority.
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