I haven't watched very many documentaries in my life. I am not sure why that is exactly because the few I have seen, I have enjoyed. I think part of it might be that when I want to watch a movie and relax, I don't necessarily want to learn something. (That sounds really bad typed out.) Maybe a better way of saying it is that I want to be entertained. So, in an effort to broaden my horizons, I challenged myself to watch 10 documentaries. (I know, not very many, but it is a start.)
So today, while I had a sick toddler sleeping on me making it impossible to do really anything else, I watched Nursery University. From the description, I kind of expected an episode of Toddlers & Tiaras with the exception that instead of parents (and toddlers...kind of) competing for a crown, they are competing for a spot in a prestigious preschool in New York City.
There were definitely a few "um...you realize your kid is only 3 right?" moments as I watched some of the parents talk about what was at stake. I can only imagine the pressure that some of those 3 year old kids are going to be under in 15 more years. There were actually people that talked about how what preschool their child gets into could determine the college they could (or more distressing, couldn't) get into.
Some of the craziness aside, there was something that struck me as true for all of those parents. Every single of them were doing it because they wanted the best for their child. When I was in the classroom, before I had Taelin, I wanted to believe that I believed that most parents were really doing the best they could. (Notice all the loopholes I left myself?) People would tell me I would understand more when I had a child of my own, which made me kind of angry and later hurt when we were struggling to get pregnant.
What I realize now is that I was right. I just really believe it now. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for Taelin and I don't really care how crazy what I am doing might seem to others. I also think that most other parents think the same thing, I am just lucky enough to have my life together enough that other people could see that too. The timing of this particular documentary comes at an interesting point as I am watching, as a teacher and a parent, of the dismantling of our public schools. I want to be a champion of public education. But as I look at what class sizes are going to be when Taelin gets to kindergarten, along with the insane focusing of data and testing I am not entirely convinced that Taelin will attend public school. I could see myself in some of those parents in the documentary. And I am completely okay with that.
As I read the reviews on Netflix, I found that my personal view of this documentary was not shared. I actually thought to myself, "They must not have kids." Shame on me...(but it is probably true)
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