Don't stand so close to me

When I taught school, every year, and I mean every year...there was a point I would get to where I couldn't talk...speechless...

When I watched an almost 10 year old child literally crawl under his desk and scream at the top of his lungs because he didn't want to do his work...I was speechless.

When a very large 4th grader came and purposefully stomped on my foot when I told him "my classroom- my rules"...speechless (sent that little bugger to the VP right away amd he wasnt allowed back in my room by the way)

When I had a student who came in crying on a standardized test day that her parents announced they were getting a divorce and sent her to school anyway, when I pulled out a paper from a 2nd grader's desk that proclaimed "Hannah Montana is hot!", when I found a huge dill pickle in a students desk after school, carefully saved after a lunch a few days before,....speechless.

I was also speechless once a year, every year, because of a horrible cold that caused laryngitus (I know I just slaughtered the spelling of that word but its too early to spell check). I can remember my first year teaching and it got so bad I was actually writing things on the board for my 4th graders to read. I was a little too naive and too nervous to ask to go home. At lunch time my AP asked me a question and I croaked out an audible whisper. He looked at me like I was crazy cakes and said "Go home." Once he found out I was writing directions to my students on the board all morning, he probably was speechless himself.

It kinda comes with the teaching territoy...sickness. it kinda goes hand in hand. Anyone going into the teaching profession has to understand they WILL be sick a few times a year due to children being ..well..gross sometimes. As I type this, wiping Addi's verry runny nose for the 14th time already this morning. (Don't worry...purell)

But I am posting this in response to an article I just read that I was appalled at and sorta agree with at the same time (are you speechless at this?...or just confused?)http://http//www.huffingtonpost.com/devon-corneal/sick-days_b_981244.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl10%7Csec1_lnk3%7C99920

This is the part where I'm sorta appalled at....

The author, Corneal, admits to while not sending her kid to school while vomiting, she would send him in with a cold, a mild fever, diarrhea (really??) and suspicion of stomach bugs. Because and I quote "don't kids' immune systems get stronger by being exposed to common illnesses?"

So the next time my preschooler comes home with a case of the runs, should I be sending thank you notes to the mom who decided to send her kid to school sick? (he's not sick now, by the way...so please dont think I am writing this passive aggressive note to anyone in particular)

Dear some other mom,

Just wanted to express my gratitude for taking the time out of your busy schedule by sending your sick kid to school and in return making my child's immune system a little stronger. I really have enjoyed the extra time I have spent with my son, cleaning up horrible bathroom messes, trips to the pharmacy, and the lack of sleep I have gotten due to his constant throwing up in the middle of the night.

P.S. My kid licked the envelope.

Love and lollipops,
Connor's mom



Okay.....the tiny point where I do agree...

So while I understand you cant keep your kid over every sniffle, every cough, cause if thats the case, Chaild and Family would be after you for keeping your kid out of school for like half the year. It honestly doesnt bother me when I see a kid who has a bit of a cold. Keep some tissues on you, cover your mouth please, go wash your hands please.

Back to where I disagree...

But there is a BIIIIG difference between a cold and a chesty-non stop cough,-my chest hurts-and I'm starting to gag due to all the coughing Im doing-kind of cold. And yes, I do (and I would confidently say the majority of teachers and mothers) mind when you decide to send your sick kid to school. You arent doing anyone a favor by sending a kid who has a fever, a horrible head cold, diarrhea, an anything else the author admitted to sending her child to school with.

So please, as we head into cold and flu season (whatever that is because I am convinced this is year long and not a season), if your kid is sick, like sick sick....keep them home, rest a day or two...and then get back into the swing of things. Keep your teachers and fellow students in mind. Because just as much as you are enjoying being up in the middle of the night with a child with a hacking cough and "mild fever," Ms. Corneal spending those, what did you say??? Oh "sweetest times..rocking him for hours when he's been really ill"...I'd personally rather spend sweet times with my child when he's happy and healthy. Thanks so much.

Funny Friday

Because it's hilarious....

I present to you.....

LOLcat

If you dont think this is funny....there is something seriously wrong with you...

My baby can read

My baby can read...

No not this baby...Although she is recognizing some letters and can count to 10, almost.

This Baby...

Who is soooo not a baby anymore....because he is now 4 and has started preschool....

Practically a man really. A man who drinks chocolate milk and has a stuffed mouse named Moppy.

No.... I didnt use My Baby Can Read.

Look at that baby! With the hat. Guess what kid? You also have to pass college Algebra. Recognizing your toes from a tiger wont get you that far in life! Good luck with that!

I am here today to urge you not to buy into that infomercial. ....The infomercial I would buy into however is that brownie pan that makes the individual brownies so they all have that "corner piece" affect. Thats amazing! Truly. Sign me up!

But back to Your Baby Can Read....I have news for you....this product is really called "My baby can memorize flash cards." Or...it could also be called "TV babysitter." But it really shouldnt be called "your baby can read".

For all of you who are thinking about buying into this program.....I need to share something important to you.....get ready...here it is....

TV time will not make your child a genius.

There I said it. Class dismissed.

.....No wait...come back...I have more to say.

Let me explain...

This program is aimed at getting your child to read by memorization or by sight. Now dont get me wrong. There is something to be said about sight words and visual context clues. Sight words are words children should learn through time and not have to spend time sounding out. Common words found in almost every book out there. www.k12reader.com/dolch-word-list/ (Downloadable lists for those interested)

Visual context clues help a child with difficult words....for example....if you child is reading a book and comes across the sentence "The cowboy rode his horse." And your child says "The cowboy rode his HOUSE."....and there is a bicture of a cowboy...rising a horse...you can point this out..."Is that a house? No a horse." See? Helpful.

However if your child sees a picture of an elephant and the word elephant is written on the page (or flashcard, or screen) and your kids yells ELEPHANT! ...pssstt...he's not reading...he sees an elephant. Thats why he's yelling.

Kids are smart and have the capability of memorizing...however memorizing is not the same as reading and take that same word out of the flashcard or screen and without a picture...can your kid read "The ELEPHANT was too sad and lonely to perform his circus trick?" Im going to guess no.

Look Im not trying to come down on any of you "My Baby can Read is the best thing since the brownie pan infomercial!!" people. I just ask you, if this is such a phenomena...such an amazing system, why isnt it in every preschool in America? Recommended by teachers? Why isnt illiteracy a thing of the past?

Why if only these people had a TV...then they could read!!( Is it me or is there something wrong with that?)

If you are really looking to get your child reading. Start him with phonics. Letter sounds. Blends...that sort of thing. Leapfrog has asome great fridge toys that use magnet letters and the sounds they make. Most the time they make a "clatter clatter" sound when they hit the tile floor over here. Followed by Addi's "uh oh."

Read to your children. TV CANNOT replace the influence of learning you have on your child. Be skeptical of products that are built with an "easy out" (as in plop your kid in front of the TV and he'll be a genius in no time!)

This article was passed on to me by a friend, because she knows the kind of stuff that can get me blogging. www.psychologytoday.com/blog/rewire-your-brain-love/201005/your-baby-shouldnt-read While I agree with what this article has to say about the importance of parent attachment and actually tuning into your kids learning and who they are as a whole.The article questions whether or not pushing your child to read early on is a good thing or not for them developmentally.

In the article it is said, "Louise Bates Ames, PhD, as superstar in child development...stated a delay in reading instruction would be a prevenative measure in avoiding nearly all reading failure."

Really?

Hi Louise....I'd like you to meet my 3 year old....Here's a picture of him riding a house...um...I mean horse.

My son has an insatiable hunger for reading and numbers. Been that way since he was a really little guy. For those of you who know Connor, you know what Im talking about.

Some kids are into trucks. Some kids are into playing ball....my kid is into mapping out the shortest route to his grandmother's house in Georgia on Google maps.

Its just who he is. Actually I was worried for a little while because he WASNT into trucks or ball. He just wanted to play with numbers. ALL THE TIME. Over time I just began to learn this is what he liked to do. Eventually the truck time came for him (thats what we are currently crazy about. Cars!)

But still to this day, he is most happy settling down with a book or rearranging number magnets on the fridge and announcing the "number of the day!"

When did learning get into the mindframe that it comes it flashcards? Or workbooks? Or thanks to Robert Titzer....TV? Challenge your children, dont buy an easy way out. If you have already bout this system I would encourage you to use it sparingly and not as a replacement for actual one on one time with your child and a great book (not a Kindle mind you, a book....).

Facebook...the good, the bad, and the uncomfortable

Do you remember myspace?...

Nah...

Neither do I. Neither does anybody else.

We might be saying the same thing about facebook soon, according to what Aol news says or that segment on NPR, because of Google +.

I know the two questions running through your mind right now....

1. WHY do you still have aol????

and

2. What is Google + ???

And my answers to both are...I havent the faintest idea.

I do love me some facebook though, as does most of the world (but not China, interestingly enough. I saw that on a facebook "special" on CBS. Thought provoking stuff.

I post at least once a day. And I do enjoy reading everyone else's posts...most the time. I appreciate facebook for being a link to long lost friends, and friends you currently have. Good way to have the granparents see the kiddos too.

But is anybody with me, about stuff on facebook, that annoys you? To no end?

And its bad, you know....because these are your friends...well facebook friends anyway. You know...That CBS special was talking about the word "friend" and how facebook has radically changed the meaning of that word.....like I said...intriguing stuff....

So without further ado...I present...

Stuff that really annoys me on facebook.

(If any of my facebook friends are annoyed with me after reading this, dont change your ways because of this post. You be you, man. Just be you. Go on.)

What annoys me on facebook....

1. Most Twitter updates....because I don't understand half of what you are saying on the facebook feed.

2. People who share ridiculous intimiate details or conversations about/with their significant other regarding their breakups/makeups....really...have a face to face conversation.

3. I'm sorry if you are sick...I really am...and feel free to post that you arent feeling well...because we all need a little sympathy...but words like"snot, diarrhea, mucus," and so on, really dont belong on the home news feed. I feel bad that snot is running out your nose like the Niagra Falls, really, I feel horrible for you. And kudos to the analogy. Top Notch. But I don't really need that much detail.

4. The Goodbye Cruel Facebook. AKA ...Threatening people you are about to delete friends off your Friends list. Its okay....just delete me. I understand. Its not you. Its me.

5. People praying on Facebook. Dont get me wrong. I am a Christian. I pray. I love Jesus. I like encouraging words on facebook. I like Bible verse quotes on facebook. ....however...Jesus does not have a facebook page. Sorry if this offends my fellow Christian friends....but this is weird.

6. People who post something that cause other people to ask more details, and then that person says they'd rather not talk about it, or its personal or private. Then....how about you dont post about it on Facebook and then I wont get all nosy and ask. I don't get it.

7. A friend of mine mentioned this the other day, and I whole heartedly agree with him...."Would you guys make it more interesting (facebook) and stop quoting song lyrics...no really you're the only one who listens to that song." Agreed.

8. Do not post "I'm bored", "hi" or "I don't have anything to say.".....and dont be surprised if no one comments on your awesome post.

In contrast however....things I do like about facebook...

1. Articles you find interesting.

2. Articles you find not so much interesting but more outrageous, and which makes me want to blog.

3. Funny pictures, of you, your kids or your cat ....because cats are funny.....yes they are...they are hilarious! They are!

See? Funny!

4. And anything else in between.

So off to facebook with you now. Go on. I'll see you there. Unless you deleted me after reading this.

Birthin Babies

Remember my "teeth sucker" post?


www.applesauceisthenewblack.blogspot.com/2010/12/mommy-wars.html


Here's a warning....don't be a teeth sucker while reading this post.


Here's another warning..there will be pictures of birthing in this post...but nothing that will make you blush. So if you are uncomfortable with that...you are probably a 10 year old boy....I jest I jest...

I'd like to talk about something that really bothers me. It goes along with my mommy wars post (see above link). "Superiority birthing." Thats what I'm calling it. Thats not a true term by anymeans...but I think it fits the notion of what I'm talking about.


The idea that one way of birthing is more honorable, more "work", more true, more noble, more right, less self serving, less invasive,... less...or more of someone else's experience.


I've got a severe problem with that. If you feel that you have had a more superior birth than others and are offended by my "naiveness"...then I'm sorry if you feel like you need to "unfriend" me on facebook. I'll carry on, although I just don't know how you will carry on with your help with Farmville without me. *tear



I'll start here...

I am a 2 time c-section mom. And I wouldn't have had it any other way.















(Eeks! Blood!.....It's ok...just breathe)




Connor was a scheduled c-section. And when I say "scheduled" I mean: The doctor said my baby was huge and he was afraid I would labor and tire myself out and end up with a c-section anway....so they scheduled me for a c-section.


I didnt have months to get used to this idea...I had 2 weeks. And in those two weeks I did a lot of praying and crying....mainly because I am the world's biggest chicken when it comes to pain. I already was a little freaked out by the idea of a vaginal birth. (Did she just say "vaginal??" Yes.... yes I did. Let's continue...). But now we are talking surgery. Surgery people! Whith scalpels and everything!

And then came out Connor...all 9.12 lbs of him. My mom said she over heard a couple speaking in Spanish at the nursery window, pointing at Connor, saying he looked like he ate one of the other babies. Every nurse who came into my room, would look at Connor, then at me, and then back at Connor and then would say, "You DID have a C-section right?"

So let's pause for a moment, for any teeth suckers, who may be saying...yeah but you could have still birthed that 9lb 12 oz butterball! It's possible.


Yes...it may have been possible. I may have labored for 30 plus hours, done some damage to myself birthing him, he may have had to be pulled out with forceps. Or you never know...maybe almost 10 pound babies, just. POP right out. Could happen.










But when I look back at my birthing experience with my son (yes I do feel like a C-section is still "giving birth.")








And my birth experience with my daughter....








And I honestly feel, like I gave birth the right way...for me. I do not feel cheated in any way. I feel like I battled through my surgery to have my babies, just like another mommy would battle her way through labor for her own baby. I think C-sections have a nasty stigma that go along with them. I was not FORCED into a c-section. My C-section was not the "easy way" out of giving birth. (Believe me, there is nothing easy about surgery that makes it difficult to get up and walk, and to take care of a newborn at the same time). I did not choose a C-section for my body's appearance sake...because C-sections do not magically leave your tummys all flat and smooth. again. Who has two thumbs and could totally use a tummy tuck? This girl. And when the medical community figures out how to make that happen with the use of a pill that magically tightens up your skin, I'll be first in line!


I do want to say that I do sympathize with the mommies who may have C-sections thrust upon them in an emergency situation or that they are so tired that they simply cannot go on laboring. I had 2 weeks to get used to my upcoming c-section. The idea of surgery...any surgery...can be scary and when you have planned on delivering your baby in a certain fashion, I can definitely understand a disappointment. A good friend of mine had this happen to her, and from what she has shared with me, it was a difficult experience. She is now due with baby number two, with a repeat C-section delivery in a few weeks! And I pray her experience will be much easier! :)


On the opposite end of C-sections....I'd like to share with you the birth of Samuel...


not a C-section birth...but a birth spent in many hours of labor,(26 hours, I'm told) joyfully endured by a friend of mine, Tara.



Natural and drug free at a Birthing Center and assisted by a midwife and doula!!! (That man in the picture is not the midwife or the doula by the way, that's Angel, Tara's hubby)










Samuel's appearance into the world was long anticiapted and he truly is the answer to prayer for his mommy and daddy.

Being a C-section mommy, I can also appreciate the beauty and the joy of a birth, like Samuel's that was so lovingly and thoughtfully planned. It was important to Tara to have her birth experience not take place in a hospital. And from what I understand...her experience was extremely positive at their birthing center.


Many would raise an eyebrow with the idea of not having a baby in a hospital, but Tara and her husband had to think what birth experience was right for them. And looking at her pictures, and hearing her talk about her experience of delivery, it is so evident that they made a wise decision in this area.


I hope, especially us moms out there, remember this important point when it comes to the birth choice of your friends....


-Do not express you "don't like" or could "never think of" having a baby in a certain fashion...especialy if the person you are talking to, has had a baby in that fashion. Because what you are really saying is that "I don't approve of your birth choice."....just cause you say it with a smile or a look of "concerned shock." Doesn't make it any better.


All of us moms....have gone through some kind of battle to give birth to our babies, whether it was with drugs or natural, with a c-section or a v-bac.....it was all "labor."



Did you see that?....the use of irony?....with the word "labor?"....I know....hilarious right?



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You people are no fun.















Sigh......

Shhh... I'm on the phone!

Connor's Elmo Counting phone conversations that have taken place recently....

Connor: Uh, Hello, is this Coca-Cola? Yes? Can I speak to my Wila please?" (His grandmother)....

:::Hangs up the phone::: "Uh ...Wila can't talk now they said. She is still working."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Connor: "I'm going to call a dinosaur, Mama!"

Me: "You do that."

:::Dials the dinosaur telephone number (I imagine their cellphones look like the Zack Morris cell phone) and waits for a dinosaur to pick up the ringing phone:::::

Connor: RAWR!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Connor: "I'm going to call Eta (his great grandmother...we have weird names for our family members)

.....:::Squeaky voice:::: "Uh Hello, my BOY! :::::Oh Hi Eta! How are you? I'm doin good. "

:::hangs up the phone::::

Connor: "Eta can't talk now, cause she's still at the bingo.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Connor: "I have to call 911"

Me: "Why?"

Connor: "There's in emergency in heaven. Some guy was driving his car and another guy crashed him cause he was driving crazy."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

3...2...1

So today I will share with you something that is becoming somewhat of a tradition in our house.



We are big on countdowns in our house. You kind of have to be when your 3 year old is number obsessed and your 1 year old is showing the same early signs of loving numbers. (As the microwave counts down, Addi grunts as each number passes....8 (heh!)...7(ba!)...6(gah!)...so on...



(I personally am quite pleased she is becoming a numbers kid as well...she and Connor can someday have lengthy conversations about numbers and mommy wont have to pretend that numbers fascinate her)



Anyway countdowns...any time we take a trip we put up a countdown to build up anticipation for the kids... Connor loves to take a number off each morning...marking the days left before we leave. Yeah I'm that kind of mom.

A few weeks ago we went on a Disney trip and we of course had a countdown. I started laminating my countdowns because we use them so often and I was having to make new ones each time.



So we now have a permanent Disney countdown (Because our family is a Disney Family...despite my husband's grumblings...)


The number countdowns are Disney paint color samples I got from Lowes or Home Depot (I can't remember which one now...all those hardware shops are the same to me)







So basically each morning he takes a number down and the day we leave..he takes the last piece down....You can imagine how anticipation builds....especially when it's Disney! :) Iadmit....this countdown builds anticipation for me too.


We have another countdown coming up...our beach countdown. Another one Ive laminated for long term keeping.

































This one will be going up soon.



My son recently asked if we could have a countdown to our countdown.









Thats where I draw the line.