Did you ever play hooky when you were younger? I did once, and of course I got caught. I was in 9th grade (Junior High) and I wanted to see my best friend who had tired to commit suicide over the weekend. My mother forbade me to go because she was in the psychiatric ward of the city hospital. But being the determined teenager that I was, I called my friend’s mother and told her it was okay with my mom. Well, to make a long story short, my sister had her tonsils taken out that day and my mother called my school to have them tell me to go to my aunt’s house when they informed her I had not shown up. It turned into a real nightmare and that is a story for another time, but “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” it wasn’t. But yes, I did get to see my dear friend!
I went to boarding school for High School and the best you could do was pretend you were sick. But that really wasn’t any fun because we didn’t have computers or lap tops back then and it wasn’t likely you were going to get to watch TV in the rec room; so your only option was to stay in bed and read. I never pretended to be sick, it was just too boring. To me playing “hooky” should be fun or have purpose to it. And since I never got to enjoy it during my school years, I made sure in homeschooling we did!
In my second year of homeschooling with Tovah I decided to give her a “hooky pass” to use whenever she wanted to as long as there were no test she had to take or special deadlines we needed to meet. She would get her pass after the first report card period. I also gave her some type of reward at the end of the school year. It wasn’t because she had all A’s but it was for working hard and applying herself. She could have had all C’s and received the same reward. It was something small, thoughtful and inexpensive. I don’t believe in giving children money and big things for their grades or schoolwork. I’m old school and believe that you should strive to do your best no matter what. So she would get something like a set of chopsticks in a beautiful box. She learned how to eat with them at a young age and still does. Me, well all I have to say is, “Bring me a fork!” LOL!!!
Tovah wasn’t the only one who had a hooky pass, I gave myself a couple during the school year. On my good hooky days, sometimes I would surprise her with a movie in the middle of the week. We still talk about how we used to be the only ones in the entire theater sometimes. She loved it, as for me, I prayed a lot and we sat close to the exit…LOL!!! And then there were those days, I just didn’t feel like doing schoolwork and I knew we wouldn’t do well with my poor attitude, so Tovah got to sleep in, read books and pretty much do what she wanted to that day. On those days we most often didn’t put on any clothes, I mean what would be the point? We weren’t going anywhere. I still had to work, but at least I didn’t have to work and homeschool. I could usually call it quits early and we could crawl in the bed to watch movies or TV and just hangout. I loved playing hooky!
My granddaughter and I haven’t had the pleasure yet, but once we are a little more into the school year, she is going to a “hooky pass” and so am I!
The phrase “hooking school” has always had a bad connotation about it, because it means “Ditching school” but when you give permission it takes on a whole new meaning. So, I suggest you find out what it feels like to "hooky” school one of these days! Enjoy!!
Love & Hugs
Ponnie
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