The nuns with guns picture makes me want to make things up to confess just so I am sure I get it all covered sufficiently! Eeek!! They offered me the opportunity, I could have stayed, it's those orders that live with the "vow of silence" that really frighten me! May the Lord forgive me, I do not think I have the strength to work with Lepers, I don't think I am cruel enough to be a "teaching nun" (only the cruelest may apply). Just joking Sister Mary Catherine, I STILL need BOTH of my ears, even now!
Parochial school did give me some measure of assurance when I became a parent, I knew if my boy had misbehaved, he had already been punished when he was "caught in the act". I was never disappointed by the fact that I/we learned when we went to school!
I have never had students that attended parochial schools that had to be tutored in literacy. I have been a Laubach Certified Literacy Tutor for more than 10 years. Except when it is a matter of teaching English as a second language, I have NEVER tutored a child who was educated in a Catholic Parochial Academy. The students that I have taught that were learning to read and write English, always had their home study work done and were ready for their next lesson with me too. I never hurt them, I never got "my ruler" out or did the eye brow thing at them, I just never had to. You never quite get over that fear.
I make a mean salmon cake for Fridays when I do not feel like having fish sticks. I will share my recipe if anyone would like it. I find it goes best with the Orange Kool-Aid (and if you really want to get wild, you can mix that with some pineapple juice! (A tupperware cup enhances the flavor, I think), and REAL baked macaroni and sharp cheddar cheese. It does not all have to be boring! :-D
Are French-Canadian Catholics the only ones who eat baked beans and fried dough on Fridays?