Homebody Wars

What do I do with a child who hates school? Lucas is on his eighth day of second grade and he is already begging not to go. Every morning he asks to stay home. This morning, Ruanita said he was practically in tears when she dropped him off. Nothing bad is happening to him at school. He is not being picked on. He is not being bullied. He has friends. He is not struggling academically. When I pick him up every afternoon, he bounces out of the building happy as can be. He quite simply does not like going to school. Left to his own devices, Lucas would stay home, safely ensconced in our four beige walls all day every day. He is a homebody, pure and simple. He is Ruanita Pierce, incarnate.

I have to say that this homebody concept is foreign to me. Don't get me wrong...I love my home. I love how comfortable and cozy it is and I enjoy being home. However, given the option between sitting home all day and getting out and going somewhere, I will choose going every time. My home will always be there when I get back. Ruanita and Lucas (and Nicholas to a slightly lesser extent), however, are perfectly content to sit home all day. Want to go get ice cream? Can't you just buy ice cream and bring it home. Want to go to the park? Maybe when I am done playing. Want to take an airplane ride to Scotland and search for the Loch Ness Monster (Lucas' geeky dream, not mine)? Ummmm....no thanks. The boy does not want to leave the house...ever. When I first got together with Ruanita, I knew that she was a homebody, and I entered our relationship fully aware that this was a battle I would be waging for years. What I did not expect was that we would breed an army that would fight on her side!

So that brings me back to my initial dilemma. What do I do with a kid who hates going to school? Ruanita hated school when she was a kid. I don't want Lucas to be miserable for the next eleven years. Of course, school is not optional, so he has no choice. This momma certainly isn't going to homeschool! I can barely manage to sit through listening to Lucas read a bedtime story without pulling every single hair from my head. Imagine if I was responsible for his education! I shudder at the thought. Therefore, he will have to be a public school educated little boy. Sorry, honey. You have to go. If you don't go to school, mommy will be arrested and mommy does not look good in orange.