I'm nearly 35 weeks now, and am feeling this weird urge to walk everywhere. Is this nesting? Is this a signal of impending baby-dom? I wonder...
In any case, I walked to work this morning, despite a nasty head cold and arctic temperatures. I fully intend to walk again later today. Normally, I'm a stay-inside kind of gal in mid-winter, with the occasional XC skiing jaunt when temps poke above 20 degrees. But today, all I want to do is walk!
FYI, I'm shooting for inauguration day for Thing 2 to enter the world. Wish me luck!
29 December 2008
23 December 2008
Seclusion Rooms Rant
This story is haunting me. Not only am I horrified at the concept of a "seclusion room," but I am angered at the way this child was treated.
Apparently, the boy hanged himself with a rope that a teacher had given him to "hold his pants up." Excuse me?? Let me tell you why I find this seemingly innocuous statements so offensive. First, the boy was thirteen, and diagnosed with ADHD. Anyone who has spent time around teen boys - especially those boys who are in their early teens - knows how self-conscious boys that age can be. They are developing, crammed full of testosterone, trying to deal with these changes and yet still maintain some sense of themselves. These are boys on the cusp of adulthood, and the teacher gave him a rope to hold up his pants?
I keep picturing a boy who had that pants-around-the-knees syndrome (thanks, Marky-Mark!) who was probably going against the school's dress code, and a system that OK's punishment by humiliation. You know - those ridiculous punishments that eventually cause psychological damage for some kids. I keep picturing a teacher who probably called out the boy for his low-riding pants, an embarrassed boy responding angrily and defensively, and a situation that escalated quickly to the point where the boy is sent to the seclusion room until he agrees to use the rope (a rope!) to hold up his pants.
I don't know if this is what happened, but it's a scenario I can easily picture. It's insensitive. Maybe teachers ought to be required to undergo sensitivity training and child psychology training ON A REGULAR BASIS if they are to keep their license.
The second reason this upsets me: there are apparently no regulations governing the use of seclusion rooms. It sounds like solitary confinement to me: are we educating and helping troubled children or imprisoning the worst of our criminals? Is this a practice that is safe? What kinds of long-term damage is being done to these kids by being forced into "seclusion?" What kind of training to teachers, school administrators, and school psychologists receive that they think this is an OK appropriate approach to education?
Third: The boy threatened to kill himself on several occasions when sent to the seclusion room, and there was no communication with his parents about the issues. In fact, there was no communication about what the seclusion room was all about. They thought it was like a "time-out."
It seems to me, that if a child's behavior is escalating to the point of violence - especially if this happens on a regular basis - then it is beyond the school's capability to deal with that child. The goal should be to keep all the kids safe, and help that kid, not keep escalating the punishment.
Apparently, the boy hanged himself with a rope that a teacher had given him to "hold his pants up." Excuse me?? Let me tell you why I find this seemingly innocuous statements so offensive. First, the boy was thirteen, and diagnosed with ADHD. Anyone who has spent time around teen boys - especially those boys who are in their early teens - knows how self-conscious boys that age can be. They are developing, crammed full of testosterone, trying to deal with these changes and yet still maintain some sense of themselves. These are boys on the cusp of adulthood, and the teacher gave him a rope to hold up his pants?
I keep picturing a boy who had that pants-around-the-knees syndrome (thanks, Marky-Mark!) who was probably going against the school's dress code, and a system that OK's punishment by humiliation. You know - those ridiculous punishments that eventually cause psychological damage for some kids. I keep picturing a teacher who probably called out the boy for his low-riding pants, an embarrassed boy responding angrily and defensively, and a situation that escalated quickly to the point where the boy is sent to the seclusion room until he agrees to use the rope (a rope!) to hold up his pants.
I don't know if this is what happened, but it's a scenario I can easily picture. It's insensitive. Maybe teachers ought to be required to undergo sensitivity training and child psychology training ON A REGULAR BASIS if they are to keep their license.
The second reason this upsets me: there are apparently no regulations governing the use of seclusion rooms. It sounds like solitary confinement to me: are we educating and helping troubled children or imprisoning the worst of our criminals? Is this a practice that is safe? What kinds of long-term damage is being done to these kids by being forced into "seclusion?" What kind of training to teachers, school administrators, and school psychologists receive that they think this is an OK appropriate approach to education?
Third: The boy threatened to kill himself on several occasions when sent to the seclusion room, and there was no communication with his parents about the issues. In fact, there was no communication about what the seclusion room was all about. They thought it was like a "time-out."
It seems to me, that if a child's behavior is escalating to the point of violence - especially if this happens on a regular basis - then it is beyond the school's capability to deal with that child. The goal should be to keep all the kids safe, and help that kid, not keep escalating the punishment.
15 December 2008
But Baby, It's Cold Outside!
The transformation The Teen goes through is amazing. At 6:30 AM, he had finished his shower, was dressed for school, and sitting on the couch grouching about how cold it is outside. DH loaded the school web site, and lo & behold...SNOW DAY!
Suddenly, The Teen is bright-eyed, smiling, bustling about getting breakfast for himself...amazingly energized in the space of only 30 seconds.
I, on the other hand, remained grumpy because work is obviously not called off due to weather.
Suddenly, The Teen is bright-eyed, smiling, bustling about getting breakfast for himself...amazingly energized in the space of only 30 seconds.
I, on the other hand, remained grumpy because work is obviously not called off due to weather.
Inspirations
Gladys Burrill is one of my new heroes. When I hit my 30s, I started to fall into that trap of thinking it's "too late" or I'm "too old" to do some of the things I've always wanted to do. Things like running a marathon, learning to play the cello, going back to grad school, having more babies.
Maybe it's easy for us to use our age as an excuse, but reading about Ms. Burrill puts me in my place. If Ms. Burrill, at the age of 90, is in training to do her 5th marathon, then I'd better not use my age as an excuse not to run one! Likewise for the cello, the grad school, the babies.
So, Ms. Burrill, thank you for your inspiration. I hope to join you in my quest to complete a marathon!
Maybe it's easy for us to use our age as an excuse, but reading about Ms. Burrill puts me in my place. If Ms. Burrill, at the age of 90, is in training to do her 5th marathon, then I'd better not use my age as an excuse not to run one! Likewise for the cello, the grad school, the babies.
So, Ms. Burrill, thank you for your inspiration. I hope to join you in my quest to complete a marathon!
13 December 2008
The Requisite List
I always like New Year (so well, in fact, that I celebrate the New Year at least 3 times through the year: Jan. 1, June 21, and Oct. 31). Note that I've outgrown the stay-up-all-night drinking aspect of the New Years' celebrations. Now it's more about the new beginnings and the lists: two things I am inordinately fond of. I love a good list!
So, you saw it coming, my list for January 1, 2009. Not resolutions so much as things I want to do this year:
So, you saw it coming, my list for January 1, 2009. Not resolutions so much as things I want to do this year:
- Have our baby! That's top of the list, for sure.
- Find my calling (this one will have to be cryptic for now.)
- Run the Canal Run. (This link only has last year's results; hopefully will have the dates for 2009 up soon.)
- Buy a couple more mountain bikes and explore the Keweenaw trails with The Teen.
- Start the karate club.
- Get a canoe (or at least rent one several times this summer).
- Take the boys fishing.
- Visit friends...esp. the proposed Wisconsin Dells fishies reunion in August.
- Sell our house! (let me know if you're interested...)
- Pay off both our vehicles. I can't wait to not have a car payment.
- Take more classes - yep, a glutton for punishment, that's me.
- Spend lots of time with my boys - walking, fishing, biking, playing, enjoying.
- Continue my volunteer work at the women's shelter.
- Train Liesl to be a bird dog so Cayce and The Teen can take her out this fall.
- Take a swing through SE lower MI to visit with family.
- Improve my karmic balance.
Being Pregnant Means...
1. Never having to waste your time sleeping - here it is, 5:50 on a Saturday morning, and I am wide awake, having popped up so energetically at 5:15 AM. I guess I don't have to worry about getting all the things done that I wanted to do this weekend, now that I have a few extra hours in which to do 'em. Of course, this early rising is after a night spent tossing and turning, and generally not sleeping.
2. No temperature control - I'm either too hot or too cold - Goldilocks will never refer to my temperature as "just right." At the moment, I'm huddled under an afghan, waiting for the house to warm up a bit. I'm sure that will change shortly.
3. Random clenching - Those would be the Braxton Hicks contractions. Not painful, but oh-so-uncomfortable random abdominal clenchings. (Make my lungs feel like they're being crushed!) My body must not have gotten the memo that she doesn't need to worry about the labor practice since we're having a c-section.
4. Constant hunger! - So this is what it feels like for The Teen to be going through one of his growth spurts. I feel like I could eat and eat and eat and eat. It's hard work growing a human.
2. No temperature control - I'm either too hot or too cold - Goldilocks will never refer to my temperature as "just right." At the moment, I'm huddled under an afghan, waiting for the house to warm up a bit. I'm sure that will change shortly.
3. Random clenching - Those would be the Braxton Hicks contractions. Not painful, but oh-so-uncomfortable random abdominal clenchings. (Make my lungs feel like they're being crushed!) My body must not have gotten the memo that she doesn't need to worry about the labor practice since we're having a c-section.
4. Constant hunger! - So this is what it feels like for The Teen to be going through one of his growth spurts. I feel like I could eat and eat and eat and eat. It's hard work growing a human.
12 December 2008
Procrastination
Yeah, the writer's bane...I have a paper due in a few days, and here I am blogging instead!
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