A kudos to the Teachers of Dist 26.

There are many good teaches in our Dist.  This was written by K1 for a class project.

Teacher of a Lifetime.
My personal favorite teachers is Mrs. B.  She might be strict but her discipline helps teach you right from wrong.  She is a warm hearted person and she helped me with numurous conflicts, most concerning work and the others concerning social material.  Mrs. B. helped me slow(?) slow my personal problem and helped to stop bullying for me.  She taught me how to become organized and raised my grades from C's and D's back up to A's.  She has broken my barrier of doubt and freed the creative young man I currently am.  Mrs. B. constantly supported me through tough times and when I asked for help of any kind, she never failed to get me to succeed.  If I ever had to repeat fifth grade, I would want to be in Mrs. B's class more than anything. 

I did it

My first cable knit!

I think I might be develping an ulcer...

Well, if you follow this blog, you know that my oldest C1 stared playing baseball this year. He is 12 and has never played ball before in his life.

C2 plays softball...no biggie there. No one can hit and if they do hit it, the ball is not often caught and if it is caught, its often thrown to the wrong person or into outer space. NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE PLEASE. Watching c2's games is like watching paint dry!

C3 just started playing t-ball. Not sure how I feel about it yet. He has only been in one game and I could only stay for one 'inning' if you could call it that, because one of us had to go to C1's game. Overall....fluff. little kids all over the place, crying babies, grandparents, and kids who dont know that the mit goes on the hand, not the head. Cept my kid of couse, who is the next Babe Ruth!

C1. These kids know what they are doing...The know when to run, when not to run, where to throw to, how to bat, etc etc. My kid...nuthin. Yes he is leaning, he is very bright, but I am in pain the entire time he is playing.

He is the kid they put into right field. They did that his first game..Stuck him in right. I almost had a stroke that night, because every hit went to right field!!!

He has made mistakes, heck, some of his teammates...wow! huge mistakes. it makes me feel so much better. but., of course, I am more atune to my son. When he is out there, in right field, the air is much thicker, harder to breath. Even the birds stop chirping. The world moves in slow motion.

I just know, that the second he looks down, or looks up, the ball is going to come to him and clock him in the head. Then, when the ball is hit to him, I am afraid to watch, but cannot not watch. Its kind of like driving by a car wreck. We dont want to see it, but we slow down and look really close anyway!

Please dont let him screw up, please dont let the ball get hit to him. Dont strike out, dont get called out trying to steal....

But, he has to do this to learn, he has to make mistakes, get yelled at by the coach. Feel bad because he missed, or didn't miss, or stopped when he should have ran, ran when he should have stopped etc etc. sigh...
I dread when he's on the field, cringe when he's up to bat, and get annoyed when he is benched.

I wonder if they offer Valium to baseball moms?

My day so far...11:33amcst

Got kids up, fed breakfast, ate breakfast, cleaned my room,(yes, but I have to make my bed every morning)(mom just fell over in shock!)

Answered emails
updated fb
harvested my farm and produced ketchup and grapes(woohoo)
ran wash
loaded dishwasher and remembered to run
cleaned out fridge to make room for veggie trays
Dropped off twilight registration
Walmart
Dollar store(c3 had saved his allowance)
Sams
Walgreens
Dry Cleaners
Came home(thought about but skipped McDonalds)
Fed c3
cleaned kitchen
folded and put away towels
scrubbed tub
cleaned mirror(how do they get it way up there)
cleaned front windows(damn doggie noses)
folded C2's clothes I started yesterday
remade my bed after c3 snugged in it when he woke up
boiled eggs for my egg salad
cleaned up after c3 lunch
talked to hubby(growl)

now typing blog.. It is now 11:38am cst.

A little guideance would be nice right about now

Ok...I need a parenting handbook here.

Normally, if you have question about parenting, you would simply ask your own parents. they went through it, and if you are a parent now, they must have done a good enough job to keep you out of jail and become a somewhat productive member of society.

However, this no longer applies. Why? Because we did not beg and plead for facebook or email accounts when we were kids.

When we were kids, mom would say, dont go in or around the grey house on the corner cause he's a bad guy or a dentist or something scary to a kid.

Now, with the advent of computers and facebook and email, we have to say, dont talk to strangers in your bedroom???

C1 wants a facebook. That is simple. Their rules state that you have to be 13 years of age. Now I know that most parents dont abide by that. How do I know, because most of C1's friends are on and they are not 13. But, I am standing by my guns and lordy do I hear about it.

Now, he wants an email account. Hmmmmm.....His cousin who is younger has one. Damn! I really dont have any good reason for him not having one. I just want to be able to see it, to view the incoming and outgoing messages. To protect him from outsiders and to make damn sure he does not do anything or send anything stupid.

Overall, I totally trust C1. He is a good kid. he is smart. but he is just that, a KID!

So, I need a parenting handbook. Do I let him, do I not, do I want to continue to hear about it. It would be useful. when I find cool things he would like it would be nice to email it to him. I love IM. I have im'd him from downstairs to remind him to take the garbage out and stuff like that!

Ok..I just realized that this is getting ridiculous! No more just knowing who your kid hangs out with and checking his backpack and pockets for stuff. Now I have to check his youtube account, and now his email?

What happens when the other kids are old enough for this?

I spend enough time on the computer just for my own stuff! (shoot, I have to go harvest my crops now)

Strange Things afoot....

Things my c1 has learned at Boy Scout Camp.

How to be in a police lineup. wait What??!?!

So my c1 calls me on his way home, they pass a cell phone around the car to give us an update on when to pick them up. So, he calls when they are supposed to be arriving, and says that they will be home in two hours. I say, my, you must have gotten a late start. He says, no, it was because of the police lineup.

Imagine my response!

But, mom in background tells him to pass the phone so another child can make the call and that we will be updated when they get home.

So, I had had to take c2 to a girl scout event and had to wait for an update from my hubby.

Apparently, one of the boys in his troop woke up in the middle of the night and thought it a go0d idea to break a window on the troop store, break in, and steal candy and pocket knives and stuff like that.

UMMMMMM Hello!

This is one of those 'WHAT IN GODS NAME WAS HE THINKING'! moments.

Like someone was not going to notice that when he brought his stuff to be loaded in a car, that he had extra bags filled with candy and such?

I feel horrible for the boys parents. Can you just imagine what they must be feeling. Lets just say that I was THRILLED that it wasn't my son! It could have been. not that my son has EVER done anything like that, but in reality, couldn't that be any of our kids. We know that their brains are not fully developed until they are in their mid 20's. They just dont think about the consequences of their actions. If they did, they would have a better response than 'I dont Know' when we ask why they did something stupid.

So, now I am torn between wanting that boy as far away from my son as humanly possible and wanting to give him another chance.

(why is my daughter humming taps behind me at the kitchen table)

I want to be, as I assume we all do, protective of my kids. Keep them in a bubble until they are married! Keep the bad people away from them, keep them from being bad people. But if and when, because we know they will, they do something, what do we do with them. What should their friends do with them? Toss them away? Run from them? hide from them?

I do my best to teach my kids right from wrong, teach them how to be good people, but they will make mistakes. I just hope its not a huge one, (using my mom ruler to measure big mistakes from small ones).

I'm sure most of us did something stupid as a kid. Stole a candy bar, or something else, (not going to say much more for fear of giving my mom a heart attack. The less she knows the better. Lets just say I am lucky to be alive/not in jail) but that is my point. We all survived and most of us were lucky not to get busted or killed. But some kids to get busted. What do we do with them? How do we help guide yet protect at the same time.

Why doesn't life come with a manual???

and for the record....my son was terrified when the police were questioning the boys because he, along with most of them boys, had eaten some of the candy. They didn't know it was stolen!

Hey Teachers.....Grow up and welcome to the real world.

Please dont get me wrong and send me hate mail or threaten my dog. I think teachers are wonderful people who do a great job(most of them) and dont get recognized enough and some dont get paid enough. Its not easy to deal with children all day everyday lord knows this is why we parents send them out of our house at the tender age of 5.

This is not a personal attack against any or all teachers. This is reality!

Our dist is in trouble. Just like many across the country. The current board did not cause this problem. The board of about 10 years ago did. This board is trying to fix the mess during a time when the economy has tanked. Period!

Now teachers are being asked to make sacrifices to save the jobs of their fellow teachers and they are saying no. Wait? What? Teachers are being offered several options to save the jobs of their fellow teachers and keep a higher level of learning in the classrooms and they are saying no! WTF Are you kidding me?

Why does it feel like they are stamping their feet whining NO! Hey guys, welcome to the real world. You negotiate pay raises over time. My husband didnt get a raise for almost two years while working for a huge insurance company. TWO Years people. He never had the option to go to his boss or his bosses boss and threaten to strike if he didn't get a raise. he would have been FIRED people!

Welcome to the real world teachers. I dont know why teachers feel that they are above the crappy economy. They can't be touched. The world if falling down around them, schools are falling apart, money is no where to be seen, but 'DONT TOUCH THE TEACHERS, THEY ARE SPECIAL'.

My hubby left crappy job, got another job, left there quickly after threats of layoffs, went to huge credit card company, got laid off. He was never given an option. Was never offered anything. He was handed a box with his personal items form his desk in it and escorted off the property. With about 500 other employees that day!

Welcome to the real world. I dont wish a layoff on anyone. Its scary, very very scary, (see earlier blogs). But in today's world, its part of life. How dare you sit there and throw a hissy fit in the middle of a meeting at the board, or get all teary eyed because you are on the list.

Did anyone hand you your box of stuff and escort you out the door? Are you still getting paid? Do you currently still have a job? Are you heading to unemployment feeling like a low life scum, standing in line with scary looking people and heads of former companies? NO?? Then shut the hell up and grow up. There are three options on the table. Pick one!

If you truely wont vote for a pay freeze or a rollback on your last raise to save you fellow teacher, but will in turn cry and sob when they leave, shame on you!

Life is about making sacrifices, not standing up on your pretty little pedestal looking down at those suffering while singing 'you cant touch me, i'm a teacher, i'm special'.