Pardon me while I rant a bit....

My children are my treasure-- without them I would not be the person I am -- they have taught me many lessons-- I have tried to teach them many more lessons. But I know that I cannot be all things to all people. Therefore, my kids attend public school. Their school has some magnificent educators.
The job they are doing gets harder each year, they have to teach more students with less resources and still achieve high scores onstandardized tests.
Just this evening I listened to the school superinedent's recommendations about how to manage HUGE budget shortfalls.  I listened and I wanted to cry and scream--
 It makes me sick to my stomach about all of the complaints about society today-- how is limiting the educations of our kids, going to produce a better,smarter child (adult) ?????

We all want a better world to be apart of,

 we all want to be seen as special and as someone that matters...

Then why, can't we invest in education that would surely.... in turn invest in our future?
No one seems to have any money for any extras-(and some are so out of resources that it makes me sick)- but I notice that gas prices continue to go up and up.
It's hard to get the (special education) services for our children to be their best-- it's hard to get a real person on the phone when you call a help line, it's hard to see the homeless on the street, it's hard to raise kids with high standards, when all around them they see reality TV Stars getting big paydays for ...pardon the wording-- but crap. Seniors aren't getting the things they need,it doesn't seem like anyone is really happy with their lot in life.
Are our expectations TOO high? Or are we missing something?
  It is really, really hard to stay positive in our current society. I understand that our world is so diverse that it's hard to come to a decision about what is best-- but I would think that EVERYONE wants better for our kids?
 Then, why is it SO hard to invest in them?
 I believe, we do need to use our money wisely-- but if we consistently give our school districts -- and schools LESS, then how can we expect students that are BETTER?
It doesn't seem like we can squeeze anymore money out of the community.
So, where is all our hard earned money going?  to buy cheap crap from CHINA?
I love America, I love that we have choices and the ability to voice our opinions-- but something needs to radically change. 
People want to work...to earn money to pay their bills-- why not 
START BY making the education system what it should be with all the bells and whistles--
 by hiring people and paying them a healthy wage
if we have people who want to work, showing our kids how to work, to be healthy, to be considerate,to be responsible-- wouldn't those things in turn EQUAL a better community?
 How often do we hear about the need for parents to be better at investing in their children? How often do we get annoyed that teenagers and 20somethings have disrespect for adults and authority? Wouldn't more one on one time with dedicated people help teach these people how to live with higher morals?
I love to watch TV,(very often for entertainment) but when I see Bristol Palin,on Dancing with the STARS-- I get really upset-- she is a famous daughter who had a baby while a teen-- and yet we "society" are rewarding her with MORE than her "15minutes of fame" .

I wasn't a young mom, when I got pregnant-- and my husband and I did take parenting classes, I have stayed home to be there for the kids when they need a parent. We go to church, we try to expose our kids to many different things that are positive and healthy. My husband and I have made hard choices just to hopefully benefit our children.
We are trying our best to do what we can to help our kids be their best-- why are we as a community, a society, giving SO MUCH OF our money to gas companies, why are we paying our sports stars SO much money, Why is CHINA making inferior products and then we still buy their poorly made products? 
If every child had the support, (teachers,mentors,parents--community)
they needed to succeed-- then~ what an amazing society we could have~! 
I have dear friends who homeschool their childeren and I think they are AMAZING(and that's only one word describing how AWESOME they are) ... but do we really want all of our children taught at home? There are some parents that NEED the support and guidence of a school setting,  for they are clearly not skilled at being a contributing member of society-- .
Please...consider these words~
Review of The Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz:
"The core behind what Fritz teaches is that human behavior, like physics, flows along the path of least resistance. Just as water flows through a river along its path of least resistance, so does human energy. Though the path of least resistance can carry you in unruly directions – as it so often does – it can empower you to effortlessly flow towards your goals."

Our power is our money and our energy--
 let's put our money,and energy to work -- in EDUCATION!

Just a bit of a rant~

I have been watching Celebrity Apprentice--

I like to see how much money and effort the celeb's will use to help their charities.

Holly Robinson Peete has a son with Autism -- and her charity, HollyROD~ is one that she created with her husband to help kids and families dealing with Autism.

I like HRP, I think she is a great woman and a strong mom. Heck, I remember her way back when~~ on 21 Jump Street-- with Johnny Depp. I think she doesn't see her kids as one with Autism, and two without-- I think she is just proud of all of her kids.

Last night Joan Rivers and season one's winner Bill Rancic interviewed HRP and Bret Michaels'.

They asked each of the celeb's why they wanted to win, and why they should win.

When Joan Rivers and Bill Rancic were talking to Donald Trump-- they kept comparing the two celeb's--. I was frustrated to hear them talk about how HRP would have to go home to the situation that her charity was all about.

I am sure that Joan Rivers and Bill Rancic were trying to be sensitive to the...topic. But, in my opinion they failed--.
- Neither one of them... realized that they were treating HRP's son with such pithy pity...

Just because HRP's son has Autism doesn't mean that she wishes he didn't have Autism or wishes that she didn't have to go home. I bet that she treasures her son -- just like she treasures her other children., sure her son with Autism needs more of her time and attention-- but that doesn't lessen her love for child.

I didn't hear them treating Bret Michael's having diabetes with such pithy pity... it seemed like they understood that the diabetes was just something he had.

Why do people continue to act like Autism is something that is caught... or something to be scared of ? Yes, autism is scary and a challenging thing-- but so is having a kid with dyslexia-- or RAD,(Reactive Attachment Disorder) or SPD - or any number of things.

Why.... Why do we not realize that these things...

that these precious kids "have" are just apart of who they are...

some people are left handed, some people are not, some people have Autism, some do not...

Forgive me while I rant... but WAKE UP PEOPLE--- be considerate of this topic-- don't demean those affected by it-- and please-- be respectful.

No one wants to get..."Autism" but then no one wants to "get" diabetes either--

Why do we continue treat Autism like it's something that you can avoid?

Some kids get Autism...some don't...

Anyway.... if you agree or disagree leave me a comment-- maybe my comments are rude and unfounded-- maybe I'm way off track? Let me know what you think.
Thanks

Jerry,Brandon and Irie

The other day Jerry and I dropped off Brandon's mail -- and he was nice enough to bring out Irie for us to see...

It was really nice to see Irie & Brandon, however it was sad to hear that Brandon and the mother of Irie are not "seeing" each other anymore and so Brandon is "couch hopping". Brandon is currently unemployed and not super motivated to get a job, I think he wants to be a stay-at-home Dad...however he is in need of a home for that to happen. Brandon has had a tough life -- so in some ways I feel bad for him, but then other times I get annoyed that he has consistently not met expectations. Don't do drugs...even the ones that are "natural" ~

Pardon my rant...

If you hopped over here to read a funny, or a new topic-- Stop reading...
Pardon me, while I get on my soap box and rant for a while.
Today was the kinder celebration--
It didn't go well...in my opinion...
Normally Shane leaves school directly after lunch -- however~ since the celebration was right after lunch I got there in time to walk with Shane to the gym. I figured that I could be Shane's chaperon and that way if he was causing a disturbance I could take him out. Leaving the teacher free to do her"job".
(When we were lined up in the lunchroom the teacher was busy talking with the principal, and so they didn't realize that Shane had goldfish crackers in his hand, and so when the line got up to where the teacher and the principal was she immediately took them from Shane, and admonished him-- We never take food out of the lunchroom, and then the principal says, and definitely not to the gym.)
This is only the third day that Shane has eaten lunch in the lunchroom and yet they are expecting/demanding perfection ....I don't think so--- Did they really have to correct him at that moment in that manner? ?Yeah... I don't think so...

There was no pre-talking at this point, no mention of what was going to happen ...

Then when they got in to the gym which is loud and noisy --
Shane had to sit on the end and not cross the line, Shane was somewhat wiggly... of course-- this is not anything that he has had experience with --
The teacher made a point to pull him out of the gym 3 times --- without giving him a clear warning before -- He wasn't being hugely disruptive, and yet she kept taking him out of the room and then giving him a talking to in the hallway.
Finally I had enough, I came out and told her that if Shane wasn't doing well enough for "her" than I would just take him home--- I was crying and mad at this point. To see her interact with my son in that way was demeaning and rude. If my son is being a pill then I do believe that he should be taken out and spoken with but he was not ... in my opinion being a "pill". She was as usual being picky and micro managing the situation.

My frustration is at an all time high with this teacher, tomorrow is a day at the park and even though I already paid for it... I am choosing to keep my son with me for the day-- I have no doubt that she would do and say things that would make me angry-- and so I am choosing to keep Shane in a positive loving environment! I also am choosing to keep him home for the last two days of school next week... Having him at school is doing, nothing in my opinion but angering me and frustrating Shane. Shane says she is letting the kids watch movies and not notifying the parents, -- I get that it's the end of the year, but this lack of communication and lack of planning is just tacky.

Went to a meeting, about the ZOO...and ~

I was so very nervous this morning, I drank my coffee without eating any food and so I was shaky and hyper-- I felt like a gunslinger from the 'ole Wild West--
I knew I might have to fight, and I was prepared, however the enormity of the task was simply overwhelming! My advocate was un-able to attend because she was at a staff meeting, and since this meeting date had been changed twice, I didn't feel like I should ask for a date change-- and risk not having everyone there!

That's when a certain Speech teach came to my rescue!

She took a few precious moments and calmed me down,

she reminded me of what my true purpose was --

she... ROCKS!

(you know who you are so, I won't name names...)

Shane and I get to go to the ZOO!~ I do have to drive him in my car, and I do have to stay near him the ..."whole trip"-- Both the teacher and I will be responsible and able...(willing?) to administer time-outs... Oy vey.... I made it clear that if Shane needs a break I will stop and stay with him, I also made it clear that I will take Shane and leave early if things get really bad.

I was so convinced that I would be told no, that Shane couldn't go that I don't know how to feel about the fact ... that we are going! -- boy... my expectations are out-of-whacked! (bad grammar?)

We also took some time to talk about hugging and such at school...
although I don't think anything was put on official record we do have some key phrases that we will be using around this topic. (finally)
hugging is for home, hands and feet to yourself, High fives are fine, if permission is given...
There is this really,super AWESOME teacher that is creating a personal social story for us...
Since our school district cannot seem to get this done.... Thanks Bethany!

So, I guess my prayers for help were answered, I don't know that I am over the moon happy yet... but maybe I will get happier as the field trip gets closer.

There were things that were said during the meeting that got my dander up... but I choose not to respond--- and now I really have to pray that my choices, or decisions won't bite me in the butt...!

Tomorrow is another day! hummm...

Thank You to Ellen Notbohm

I have people in my life that don't really understand why I parent the way I do--

They think it is interesting and possibly humorous but they don't really get... "the why--"


I was over at Melody's blog today Slurping Life-- each weekend she has people link up to show off pictures of different topics, but without editing. It's called SOCC, Straight out of the camera--I have participated before but not recently--.

I happened to be checking out other peoples posts, and I happened upon an article-- http://www.autismspectrum.net/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=248


The ten things that your child with Autism wishes you knew...by Ellen Notbohm

After reading these 10 things I thought to myself, wow-- Shane really does have quite a few of these traits. I wonder if I could post the information here and --

would it change how people see me as a parent and how people see my son ?

Would it change how they choose to interact with my son?

would it change my own guilt that my son is just not like all the other kids?

Will reading these 10 things, help me to be considerate to others--

no matter what?

no matter what!

We are all precious in HIS sight, and yet-- I find myself slow, to always see others' as I would want to be seen-- as simply precious and wonderful in HIS sight.

Gosh, I guess it comes down to this, how do I tell those who don't like change,

(we never had car seats-- why do the kids need them?...We did what we were told, why can't he? How long will we have to talk to him like that? Can't he just learn to act like all the others? Doesn't he learn after all the repetition?)

How to tell them without hurting their feelings?

How to tell them without hurting my own, and my son's feelings?

That change is really what is best~

This really isn't a statement about political views, but that is another huge difference.



So, I guess I will get off of my soap box, and go get ready for church~



Have a lovely Memorial Day

Posting with a Happy Heart !

Today, I got to talk to the Developmental Pedatrician -
and I have to say WOW!
It is SO nice to talk with a professional, who knows Shane and I,
and has seen both of us separately and together.
She, didn't think I was nuts, she didn't think I needed to see a counselor-- she also said that she thought I should work with the school, the teacher included and create the 504 plan on Friday-- but that I should ask for a review right before the Christmas break! And then if not enough has changed then it is time to switch teachers or schools.

After all the things I was hearing from the school, the teachers comments, the school psychologist-- and just the enviorment at school --
This was a great break back to positive interaction that I thrive on! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhooooooooooooooooo!

I am praying hard, that this Friday there are some major changes in how Shane and the school interact!
I am going to think positive thoughts, and hopefully they will become TRUE?

On this same topic--- I found a post at another blog that deserves your reading it-- & commenting!
Go check out Rocks in My Dryer, What I remember

Just plain fustrated!

A while back I checked a book out at the library, called
Oxymoronica, by Dr. Mardy Grothe
These are some quotes that I found worth sharing :

Ellen Goodman ~We want our children to fit in and to stand out. We rarely address the conflict between these two goals.

Elbert Hubbard~ The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without his teacher.

Annie Shaw~Fond as we are of loved ones, there comes a times during these absence an unexplained peace.

Tacitus, in Annuals~ To show resentment at a reproach is to acknowledge that one maybe have deserved it.

So, today-- I took the kids to school--- Shane is still not feeling good so--
we were late and Shane was being a pill---not to mention coughing and coughing-- even after I gave him some over the counter medicine-- which didn't work-- but I was willing to try ANYTHING-- that might help~
But-- I had been asked to help out with a project in the class and so I stayed to help.
I appreciate that there are 25 kids in this classroom and that seems to be a huge issue.
Then~
Why not be prepared to do the project,before sharing it with the kids?
Why not make a tutorial like they do on TV(heck I have even seen some cute ones on blogs)
There never seemed to be a beginning middle or an end.---
I was paying attention and I didn't understand what we were doing -- or why ?????
Wouldn't the why we are doing the project --be something we should know ?
Shouldn't we explain the how in steps?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I really wanted to post a positive message this morning--
I had High Hopes-- but I have to be honest and say I am just plain frustrated!

Get the kleenex-- a post about the past~

Each year at this time of year, there are a few local events that make my heart ache--

• The Lane County Fair(This year the same weekend as our camping trip)
  
• The Harris Family Reunion
• The Moore Family Reunion and camping trip(next weekend we are off to Reedsport)
  

Our family just got finished with the Harris Family Reunion, and although it was so nice to see everyone~ there was some moments that just made the world stop turning for a while.
{Quite a few of the family asked about Jessica's health and her future-- Although were apart of the lawsuit against the Fair --- we received ZERO monies,Zero apologies, and Jessica currently has to take blood pressure medication every day to keep her kidneys working at a normal rate.}
Back in August of 2002, I was about 8 months pregnant with Shane--
I wanted to walk around ~ I was just... a little hot and cranky~
the Lane County Fair was going on, after much complaining and cajoling
I convinced my dear hubby to take us (Jessica,Jerry and I) to the fair--
Since Jessica had already been though enough medical stuff
-(being a premiee,born at 33 1/3 weeks at only 3 pounds 4 ounces)
- we planned ahead not to touch any animals and to only eat from vendors that we had seen in years past. We also thought that by keeping her in the stroller we would be keeping her safe -- she had only just figured out how to walk and we were afraid that she might get squished in the crowds of people. When we ate, we went in the bathroom and washed our hands and then came back and baby wiped them-- thinking that we were being clean and safe.We saw the tables and chairs that were set out and decided that sitting in a grassy area was a better plan.

We found out later that our choices-- may or may not of been helpful at all.
Herein, lies guilt~

About a week after the Fair, we were at a funeral for my husbands cousin- who passed away after a battle with cancer-- she left 2 kids and a husband behind-- I can't remember her age- but it was just too soon for this event to happen, too soon. While we were trying to share our loss with the Harris Family, Jessica's lack of spirit and energy was fading fast. She had not had anything to eat, and wasn't really even interested in drinking juice.We had made an appointment to see our pediatrician at 4pmish-- I left Jerry with his family and I took Jessica to see our pediatrician.
Our visit seemed to be the longest ever-- Our Dr. looked Jessica over and asked questions-- where had we been recently, what had we been doing--
I didn't know where all the questions were leading -- just that I didn't like the look on our Dr's face. Our Dr. wanted to give Jessica some Pedalite to see if she could keep that down-- the next thing I know she was projectile puking-- (pardon the description) Our Dr. went and got another pediatrician for a consult -- the look on his face wasn't helpful-- his eyes never really met mine-- and I don't think he even said a word out loud-- he just looked at our Dr. and nodded. Once again our Dr. left the room-- I was in-limbo, my daughter had such a cloud of sickness of her and I was just embarrassed about her puking in the office~ shock and dismay seemed to be the only feelings I can remember.
I don't know how much time had passed -- but I know that the office got very quiet and it seemed as though I was the only patient left.
Our Dr. came in and explained that she thought, along with the other Dr. that Jessica was part of a group of kids that were VERY sick-- she was very sad to say that she thought the sickness was,
E coli. -- She asked if I wanted to go home with Jessica and see if I could nurse her back to health--- She explained that I would have to watch Jessica very closely -- I stopped to ask, just how bad can this get? I don't remember the words that she said, just that the end result could be death. I told her that I was very nervous-- How could I take Jessica home and help her~ if she couldn't even keep the Pedalite down? Our Dr. then said, well Jessica is very dehydrated-- let's go ahead and admit her to the hospital and see if they can help her-- .
She left to make the necessary calls and I called Jerry--- who was still with his family-- Through my tears, I explained that I needed him NOW to come and drive Jessica and I to the hospital. (There was no way I was going to be a safe driver with my daughter sick in the back seat.)
When we got to the hospital, we were fast-tracked to the PICU-- On our way in the double doors,
I saw another Mom that I knew, (she was a customer of mine while I worked at Dari Mart)
the tears welled up in my eyes and I just reached out for a hug-- I asked why are you here, and she said, my son Hunter is sick-- we think he got sick with E coli.

As, I type this -- my face is blotchy and red, I think I have emptied all my tear ducks--- So, I am going to pause --

I hope that by reading this,
people will be aware that E Coli is a terrible thing
-- and that hand washing is VERY important--
but that there are MANY other things that can help...to prevent E coli.

• keep the animals and the food vendors separate
• test the animals prior to the fair (Yes, most cud-chewing animals have E coli present, but this test is for E coli serotype O157:H7 which is what affects humans)
• Have the animals a week or two after the Fair-- not at the same time
  
• Know that E coli can be airborne
• Know that even if you are very cautious, the amount of E coli needed to get sick is very small-- our Dr's said that Jessica might of only ingested the amount the size of a dime.
• E coli affects the very old and very young-- mainly the fragile.

Please, as we enjoy the Summer-- be cautious of Fairs.

Criticism

Criticism leaves you with the flattering unction that you are a superior person. It is impossible to develop the characteristics of a saint and maintain a critical attitude.

Oswald Chambers~


I found this quote while reading Espresso for a Woman's Spirit by Pam Vredevelt

I had to go and look up the word unction --
I still don't ...completely get what Mr. Chambers is saying-- but it seems quite profound--

What do you think?
Leave me a comment! Thanks!