When Failing is Progress: Why Retaking Algebra Is a Good Thing

Last month we got a letter from our school district. Standardized test scores were in, and kiddo hadn’t achieved proficiency in math. Again. This time there are consequences. Come September, kiddo will be repeating algebra.
A year ago, in the office of kiddo’s newly assigned high school counselor, I had the unhappy task of trying to explain why I thought my child should repeat pre-algebra, despite having passed it.

The Moment I Became a NICU Mom

It wasn’t at that first moment of separation that I realized what it would be like to have a child in the NICU. It was later, after my nurse settled me into my bed, made sure I was comfortable, and left me alone to sleep. It was when I heard another baby-a presumably healthy, chubby thighed, full term newborn-crying in the room next door to me. I imagined his mother, sleeping an arm’s length away from his bassinette, waking, immediately ready and able to meet her child’s needs. Maybe she was pulling him close to nurse, or carefully mixing a bottle of formula, or maybe she was simply holding him, sitting in the darkness of her room, touching his plump cheeks and wispy thin hair and marveling at the fact that he was here, with her, in her arms.

My child was a floor away from me, behind locked doors, alone, on the first night of his life. If he was crying in hunger, I wouldn’t know it

I Can’t Decide When to Send My Child to Kindergarten

Like any neurotic person trying to make a life-altering choice, I’ve researched this topic for over a year, asked everyone I know, and posted my dilemma to the internet.

Big mistake.

Everyone—and I mean everyone—has an opinion on this topic. Her pre-K teacher says to wait. One of my best friends, who has a Ph.D. in early childhood development, is dead against waiting. Her pediatrician parroted the same advice I’ve heard countless times: “No one ever regrets waiting, but they regret not waiting.” I’ve had friends look at me as though I’d grown three heads for even suggesting I might hold her back. I’ve spoken with parents who held and those who hadn’t. I’ve heard words of regret, words of encouragement, and a whole steaming heap of judgment