Thursday, May 31, 2007
Here's what summer looks like at our house:
1. Kids swinging happily on the swing set.
2. Kids playing with bugs and earthworms.
3. Kids going through multiple play outfits and swimming trunks in one day because we have an amazing mud puddle on the patio.
4. Kids thinking that having McDonalds for lunch AND eating inside instead of going through the drive thru is basically on par with being best friends with Spiderman.
5. Playing Slamwich, Connect Four, Balloon Lagoon, Chess, and I Spy Bingo a gazillion times.
6. Reading Animal Houses again and again.
7. Cuddling with a sleeping four year old and a chubby baby worn out from a day of play while I leisurely read a book.
8. A four year old planting strawberry plants. "Look Mommy! I did it all by myself!"
9. Kids getting into shaving cream upstairs while you are in an important meeting downstairs.
10. Kids in various states of undress from mud puddles and shaving cream.
11. There is one child in particular who was stark naked today covered with shaving cream. I mean covered. It looked like he was wearing a little white suit.
12. A little 8 year old who sings Dixie... a lot. "Oh I wish I was in the land of cotton!" What can I say? I've taught my kids some interesting songs through the years. Mostly because I would get tired of one and would search my memory for a song and Dixie would pop out once in awhile.
13. Parents looking at each other at the end of the day and saying, "Our lives lately have been so fun. It really seems like this is the most fun and happiness we've ever had."
It's the truth. Who needs vacation when you're a kid (or when you're living in Kid-land)? Recipe for fun in Kid-land: mud puddles, some simple games, a swing, a Happy Meal, and a few books. I love it.
1. Kids swinging happily on the swing set.
2. Kids playing with bugs and earthworms.
3. Kids going through multiple play outfits and swimming trunks in one day because we have an amazing mud puddle on the patio.
4. Kids thinking that having McDonalds for lunch AND eating inside instead of going through the drive thru is basically on par with being best friends with Spiderman.
5. Playing Slamwich, Connect Four, Balloon Lagoon, Chess, and I Spy Bingo a gazillion times.
6. Reading Animal Houses again and again.
7. Cuddling with a sleeping four year old and a chubby baby worn out from a day of play while I leisurely read a book.
8. A four year old planting strawberry plants. "Look Mommy! I did it all by myself!"
9. Kids getting into shaving cream upstairs while you are in an important meeting downstairs.
10. Kids in various states of undress from mud puddles and shaving cream.
11. There is one child in particular who was stark naked today covered with shaving cream. I mean covered. It looked like he was wearing a little white suit.
12. A little 8 year old who sings Dixie... a lot. "Oh I wish I was in the land of cotton!" What can I say? I've taught my kids some interesting songs through the years. Mostly because I would get tired of one and would search my memory for a song and Dixie would pop out once in awhile.
13. Parents looking at each other at the end of the day and saying, "Our lives lately have been so fun. It really seems like this is the most fun and happiness we've ever had."
It's the truth. Who needs vacation when you're a kid (or when you're living in Kid-land)? Recipe for fun in Kid-land: mud puddles, some simple games, a swing, a Happy Meal, and a few books. I love it.
Friday, May 18, 2007
News Flash: She was not convicted after all. Phew. I bet she is relieved!
Ordinary people are not allowed to lie, seriously... don't do it:
Ms. Echols lied about her address and sent her kids to the wrong district supposedly so her kids could go to her family's house when she worked late. This story is scary! http://www.wsbtv.com/news/13341382/detail.html This mom of three is facing prison if convicted. How ridiculous. The schools and government have too much power over people. I heard that if she is convicted she could face YEARS in prison.
This makes me almost as mad as the woman who went to prison for throwing a cup of pop that landed in the car of someone who cut her off on the road. Her husband was serving I believe his third term in Iraq. Even the people who got doused with soda thought the sentence was extreme. And now because she is a convicted felon she won't be able to finish nursing school! I think she actually is out now... can't remember why. Maybe because the penalty was too excessive?????!!!!!????
Prison... for throwing soda? Prison... for lying about your address? Um. I think that is a little excessive. Plus both of these women are mothers!
Now for both, fine them. Make them pay, that will teach them a lesson and be a deterrent, but don't send them to prison and leave their kids to fend for themselves with family members or in foster care. Make the woman who sent her kids to the wrong district pay the tuition plus an additional fine.
Government really scares sometimes. You can get sent to prison if you don't send your kids to school. You can get sent to prison if you send your kids to the wrong district. Your kids can get expelled or in serious trouble for making gun noises or having pretend guns, yet they can't protect our kids from REAL guns! My sister's colleague went through several weeks of school before she realized that one of her students was a BOY! Not a girl! Did you know that many schools have a time out spot (a small room or office cubicle with no way out--- essentially locked) and that kids targeted as behavior problems or special ed students with behavior problems can have this written into their IEP as a solution for bad behavior? I saw this happen once with a little girl in Noah's class. It traumatized me (and him, for that matter) that I was shaking when I left. Her is a little girl, nonverbal who needs loves and hugs in a tiny little closet space (about 3 feet by 3 feet) made by office cubicles. The teachers were holding it against the wall so their was no way out. None. She was struggling and crying. I left, and called the consultants and special ed administrators and was told that this was an acceptable consequence as long as parents gave their permission. We then started touring schools for Kindergarten. They weren't expecting us, and guess what? They had a crying kid in some sort of closet type thing their too! We also toured unexpectedly once and heard a teacher yelling (I mean really yelling) at a child in the hall. This child was in the segregated school for kids with special needs and behavior problems. So now that I have a special ed student of my own, as well as one who is increasingly being targeted as a "rambunctious boy," do you really think I am sending my kids to be victims of that kind of "intervention." NO WAY!
I know the schools are doing the best they can, but it makes me a little paranoid to even be involved with schools based on what they can do to you or your kids if you mess up (or mess up in their eyes).
Lesson to be learned: Don't ever, ever lie.
Lesson 2: If you do lie, the schools can send you to PRISON for 80 years.
Lesson 3: If you do lie, you are far better off being a president because you WON'T be sent to prison for 80 years.
Lesson 4: Do not post the 10 commandments in public spaces.
Lesson 5: Do not violate the 10 commandments (hope you can remember them) because you might GO TO PRISON if you don't.
Lesson 6: If you live in a school district, they get money FROM you to educate your kids.
Lesson 7: If you wish to educate them yourself, they will keep your money and you will pay for your kids' education twice.
Lesson 8: Never, ever, ever depend on someone else to take full responsibility for educating your kids. Even if they are in school, remember you are still in charge. You are. Really. I promise!
Yikes!
Ordinary people are not allowed to lie, seriously... don't do it:
Ms. Echols lied about her address and sent her kids to the wrong district supposedly so her kids could go to her family's house when she worked late. This story is scary! http://www.wsbtv.com/news/13341382/detail.html This mom of three is facing prison if convicted. How ridiculous. The schools and government have too much power over people. I heard that if she is convicted she could face YEARS in prison.
This makes me almost as mad as the woman who went to prison for throwing a cup of pop that landed in the car of someone who cut her off on the road. Her husband was serving I believe his third term in Iraq. Even the people who got doused with soda thought the sentence was extreme. And now because she is a convicted felon she won't be able to finish nursing school! I think she actually is out now... can't remember why. Maybe because the penalty was too excessive?????!!!!!????
Prison... for throwing soda? Prison... for lying about your address? Um. I think that is a little excessive. Plus both of these women are mothers!
Now for both, fine them. Make them pay, that will teach them a lesson and be a deterrent, but don't send them to prison and leave their kids to fend for themselves with family members or in foster care. Make the woman who sent her kids to the wrong district pay the tuition plus an additional fine.
Government really scares sometimes. You can get sent to prison if you don't send your kids to school. You can get sent to prison if you send your kids to the wrong district. Your kids can get expelled or in serious trouble for making gun noises or having pretend guns, yet they can't protect our kids from REAL guns! My sister's colleague went through several weeks of school before she realized that one of her students was a BOY! Not a girl! Did you know that many schools have a time out spot (a small room or office cubicle with no way out--- essentially locked) and that kids targeted as behavior problems or special ed students with behavior problems can have this written into their IEP as a solution for bad behavior? I saw this happen once with a little girl in Noah's class. It traumatized me (and him, for that matter) that I was shaking when I left. Her is a little girl, nonverbal who needs loves and hugs in a tiny little closet space (about 3 feet by 3 feet) made by office cubicles. The teachers were holding it against the wall so their was no way out. None. She was struggling and crying. I left, and called the consultants and special ed administrators and was told that this was an acceptable consequence as long as parents gave their permission. We then started touring schools for Kindergarten. They weren't expecting us, and guess what? They had a crying kid in some sort of closet type thing their too! We also toured unexpectedly once and heard a teacher yelling (I mean really yelling) at a child in the hall. This child was in the segregated school for kids with special needs and behavior problems. So now that I have a special ed student of my own, as well as one who is increasingly being targeted as a "rambunctious boy," do you really think I am sending my kids to be victims of that kind of "intervention." NO WAY!
I know the schools are doing the best they can, but it makes me a little paranoid to even be involved with schools based on what they can do to you or your kids if you mess up (or mess up in their eyes).
Lesson to be learned: Don't ever, ever lie.
Lesson 2: If you do lie, the schools can send you to PRISON for 80 years.
Lesson 3: If you do lie, you are far better off being a president because you WON'T be sent to prison for 80 years.
Lesson 4: Do not post the 10 commandments in public spaces.
Lesson 5: Do not violate the 10 commandments (hope you can remember them) because you might GO TO PRISON if you don't.
Lesson 6: If you live in a school district, they get money FROM you to educate your kids.
Lesson 7: If you wish to educate them yourself, they will keep your money and you will pay for your kids' education twice.
Lesson 8: Never, ever, ever depend on someone else to take full responsibility for educating your kids. Even if they are in school, remember you are still in charge. You are. Really. I promise!
Yikes!
