Last month, I went to Austin and  met with my state representative, Cindy Burkett (HD-101), and asked her to help me get mandatory recess for all of the children here in Texas. The conversation went something like this:

Me:

I was hoping you would be able to help me with a bill I would like to get passed for mandatory recess in Texas.

Her:

Absolutely! It's important we get our kids healthy! Email me everything you have about the bill and let's get together in the next couple of weeks and talk about it. 

On the outside, I was like, "Yes! She's going to help me with this." In the back of my mind, however, I kept thinking, "OK, that was way too easy..." From my understanding, getting a bill filed is hard...especially, when that bill is for something like recess. When you talk to legislators, they are always extremely polite and say the right thing...but having them actually do what they say is another. (At least, that's what people tell me anyway...)

The following Monday after meeting with Cindy, I attend our Council PTA meeting. Her district director, Sabrina, is there. I talk with her about my meeting with Cindy and about the recess bill. I get Sabrina's information and tell her I will send her the details about the bill, too.

Over the course of the week, I gather everything I can about recess- research, position papers, news articles, you name it...and I send it to Cindy and her team. Because the last bill asking for recess (filed in 2008) didn't go anywhere, I decide to start an online petition to generate parental support. My friends tell me not to get my hopes up. With legislation already in session, I'm assuming that getting recess on board will happen later instead of sooner. (I secretly keep my hopes up anyway.)

Fifteen days after my initial meeting with Cindy, I get an early morning phone call from her legislative director, Lauren, in Austin. She tells me they think the bill is a great idea. She then tells me they are going to file the bill and asks me how I would like it to read. I say, "Wow! That's amazing! When will this be filed?" Lauren says, "Today."

time out. what's going on here?

Keep in mind that I'm totally clueless about the legislative process. Reading and understanding legislation is one thing...knowing the process of getting a bill to become a law is another. Up until this point, my level of expertise on the matter, sits right about here:

Thankfully, the School House Rock people pretty much tell it like it is (they really need to bring those things back).  As I sit there on the phone with Lauren, my mind starts racing and I get that fluttery excited feeling in my chest because, well, they're filing a recess bill. Even better, they want to be sure that it reflects what we, as parents, have been asking for. The bill itself is simple:

1. we want our kids to get a 20 minute break during the day. A real break, like what adults get at work,
2. it needs to be unstructured, so that kids have an opportunity to interact and develop socially,
3. it needs to be undirected, so that kids can learn to interact with other kids on their own,(you don't follow your kids and their friends at the park and constantly tell them how to play with each other do you? Because that's weird...and a little creepy)
4. it shouldn't be used as a way to punish kids or hold over their heads as a reward, and
5. it needs to be mandatory, that way schools can't withhold it as a result of reason #4.

Yep, that pretty much covers it. Recess isn't hard, folks. But getting lawmakers to understand that is.

thankfully, i got lucky..

Bottom line, I have a state representative that understands the importance of recess. I didn't have to convince her that keeping our children healthy needed to be a priority. She already knew. I was also lucky because she had an amazing team of people on it. They kept me informed every step of the way. And because of that, we have this:

http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/billtext/html/HB03770I.htm

And now, here comes the hard part: Convincing the rest of our state reps here in Texas that healthy, well-adjusted kids should be a priority.

So help spread the word. We can't let this bill die. Bills like this are far and few in between. Tell your rep recess is free. That should help ;-)