Time to make some changes

I’ve been finding the time that I spend writing on the web a lot more frustrating than it is satisfying lately. At the same time what I’ve written, and the reactions to it, seems to be taking up more and more of my energy. I’m not talking about what I post on this blog – clearly I haven’t been spending much time here. I’m talking about Ed forums where I’ve been commenting on other people’s posts, primarily Inside Ed.

This feeling reminded me of a friend’s conversation with his dad when he reached the age where mind altering substances were becoming a significant part of his life. His dad explained that drinking and the like were a normal phase of life, but that you need to remember that you’re doing these things because you want to and you enjoy the sensation (if not the next day’s hangover). The important thing, he said, was that if you no longer enjoyed the experience, if you felt compelled to partake, that you stand back and change your ways.

Obsessively reading, checking and mulling over Ed issues no longer brings me joy. I’m resolved to make a change. I will not be commenting any more. I’m going to try to limit checking on blogs to a reasonable level. I haven’t posted too much about general Ed issues on this blog, but I’m going to switch the tone to be more personal and less political.

This is a more than little hard for me. I feel like the 13 or so years I’ve been a parent in City Schools, and the wide varieties of things I’ve seen at different schools and as the parent of a special needs child, have given me a pretty strong base to talk about schools and the changes that are going on. That might be true in some settings, but on the boards, judging from the reactions of other commenters, I don’t think that my opinion has swayed a single reader. I’m not complaining, I’m just stating what seems like a plain fact to me.

I’m not saying I won’t be posting here anymore; in fact I plan to post more often. This is going to be a year of transition in our household as my eldest starts applying to colleges and making that big choice. I think I should be spending my on-line times searching out information to help her make the best choices possible. I plan on sharing what I find here, which I think that should be the source of some pretty good blog topics.

In addition, msk is getting close to high school and I think, realistically, that there will be some big issues about placements and life planning going on as that gets closer. It's a hard topic - planning for a transistion to adulthood and independant (or as independant as possible) living. That should be some pretty gripping posts - it's hard just to through down these few preview sentances.

So there you have it - changing and growing... fun times indeed!