5th Grade Wisdom

We belong to a left-of-left groovy Congregation that the Professor found for us when we moved here.  Tired of feeling like we were part of an institution, we wanted to try a smaller, different environment for Hebrew School for the kids.

Tikkun v’Or is a warm, friendly group.  Our rabbi lives in Martha’s Vineyard and comes out six times a year.  The rest of the time the families, staff and volunteers keep the place going.

Charlie had a service project he was working on for the social action part of his class.  He was supposed to research an issue he felt was a problem and prepare a presentation on it.  Here are the questions he was to address:

What is the problem?

How did it become a problem?

What is the solution?

What can we do to help?

I asked him what he chose for his project.

“Blogging.”

I felt a wave of horror flush through me.  My poor child!  I had no idea my blogging was affecting him!  He feels it is a social crisis!

“Wow, I am very interested in seeing your presentation to learn more about it.”

“Okay, I’ll leave a copy of the PowerPoint on your computer for you.”

Last night I sat down to read how my hobby became a problem, what he thought the solution was and what he was planning to do to rally his class of fifth grade religious school students to help.

I see the file on my desktop.  “Logging.”

What?  I click it open.  There are a bunch of logs and trees and the first slide, “Logging and its Effects on the Rainforests."

I think I enjoyed reviewing that homework more than any other assignment in the history of my paranoid mothering career.