The Education of Handley Girls

As I am sure all parents do, Ray and I spend a decent amount of time talking about our girls' future.  A lot of that discussion centers on what we want for them in terms of education.  When it comes to informal education, we talk about things we want them to learn: the value of hard work, a healthy sense of competition, how to change a tire, the importance of financial responsibility, independence, etc. We almost always agree on the importance of these types of things when we envision the kind of women we want to raise. 

When we talk about formal education, the questions get much more detailed and our answers are not quite as much in alignment: do we want them to attend private or public schools? Should they live in a dorm when they go to college?  What are we doing to prepare for paying for college?  What are we willing to pay for in terms of helping them through college?  Which college should they go to?

Between the two of us, Ray and I have four degrees from Florida State.  In my mind, this obviously means that UF is not an option for either Juliet or Anna to attend.  Ray, however, insists upon injecting logic into the conversation and maintains that they are welcome to go to UF as it is a very good school.  I always roll my eyes when he says that and point out that if they go to UF, they will then, of course, be Gators.  Sigh.  I have no idea why he doesn't understand my position on this.  Fortunately, I have about 16 years to convince him I'm right on this one.

Regardless of where they end up attending college, one thing is certain: we will raise them to be Seminoles.  And as long as I am in charge of purchasing their FSU apparel, they will be wearing only the traditional Chief Osceola.  (I will not even bother providing you a link to the travesty that is the "updated" logo or all the discussion (a.k.a "outrage") it caused.)

Ready to watch the Noles play the Citadel in the home opener 9/6/14