I think you are showing them a realistic picture. It's when we're set up against perfect/unrealistic portrayals, that's when we feel inadequate. Think of advertisers holiday portrayals. Yeah, right! I think it is better to be realistic with them. I'm sure you are doing a better job than you think.

As far as today's teachers expectations of parental involvement, SO TRUE. It's been a number of years now, but I was boggled by it. I never had help on my homework as a kid. Sure, many things were dysfunctional, but in that regard, I don't think so. So what, you know? I got A's. It was my job. They've turned it into the parent's job, and I think that is wrong. (Yes, there should be parental involvement, but the level of that expected these days is ridiculous.)

(Heheh. Parent-teacher conferences, oh, GOD how I hated them! Nonetheless, a memory… In his 8th or 9th grade, so you go to various subject teachers. One criticized the hell out of our son and said that his performance was a disaster, laying it at our feet with a major tsk-tsking on our "inadequacies". Now, mind you, this was the first we had heard there was any problem. I'm thinking, WHO'S lazy?! She sees this problem and can't be bothered to even alert us until so far into the semester??!!! She topped it off by handing us a sheet on laziness!!! I wanted so badly to fly over that table and throttle her! )