Our daughter made it through 12 years of school without a single unauthorized absence. Our son is a junior and so far his record is clean.
These days, ditching school is the last thing a parent is worried about. So why am I writing about it? It's simple. Creating a "legal" ditch day in our home opened the doors for honest communication with our children.
When I was a kid, I had a great plan to ditch school which didn't work out quite the way I planned. My husband has his fair share of ditching stories to tell as well. One of the things we learned as adults is that most of us do not grow out of this. Ever call in sick and go to the beach instead?
The reason is simple. We all need a "just because I don't feel like it" kind of a day. This of course is in addition to scheduled holidays and vacations. Most companies agree and offer personal days off.
When our children were young, we would take turns surprising them by picking them up early from school to do something special. They loved it! After doing this through grade school, we had a family meeting and created a "just because I don't feel like it" day off.
We gave them two days a year, one per semester. They were shocked! There were three qualifications:
1. No missed days due to being "sick".
2. No missing assignments or refferals to the office.
3. No other infractions of house rules.
This made an incredible difference in their overall behavior and respect for us as parents. Now, as with anything else, this was not 100% full-proof. We did have some occasional debates as to what qualified as an "infraction" of house rules, but we worked out the quirks during the middle-school years and it went amazingly well during the high school years. In addition to this, we still have our occasional dates with our kids.
They have told us that when temptation comes to invite them to do something risky, they remember our relationship and our arrangement and they resist. They also say that this is something they will pass on to their kids.
Making the time to date your children will make a big difference. If you just can't get past the legal ditch day, come up with something special that will work for your family.
Some of our most memorable moments with our children happened on Ditch Day. This is what I call grace in action!
Happy ditching!
