My appointment was uneventful yesterday. I tried to hide my relief when she put the Doppler on my belly and found the heart beat right away. It was music to my ears.
My uterus is right where it should be...and then some. I am measuring at nineteen weeks, which is expected with baby number six. I still can't figure out why my clothes still fit, but for now I'll enjoy it.
I had my early screening for diabetes yesterday. I hate drinking that nasty orange syrup, which they try to disguise as soda. It made me shaky and dizzy and by the time I checked in I could hardly think straight. I know I have it, so why the torture? I have been using my glucometer off and on for about a month now and my sugar has never been below 120. I took my sugar this morning before I ate and it was 195. Yikes!!! A safe range is between 90 and 100. The sooner I get the script for the gliburide, the better. I'll call for my results tomorrow.
Caleb had a dentist apointment today to repair a chipped tooth. Lundi has one tomorrow to get a cavity filled. Her appointment is at 2:10 and she doesn't get out of summer camp until 4:00, so she is very disappointed that she has to miss the last two hours.
Lundi and Harrison are having a great time at camp this week. I have to say, though, that my kids are a bit in shock when it comes to the public school culture. No, this is not a PS camp, but the children who attend camp also attend PS. Harrison is a compassionate little boy and doesn't like to see people left out. It hurts his feelings when he tries to be kind to people and they reject him. I think it's terrible that compassion is sometimes seen as a weakness or uncool. When he related an experience to me today, I wanted to un-enroll him. But I didn't. I thanked him for trying to be like Jesus and told him we would pray for the "mean" boy tonight.
Caleb had a similar experience last week. On Monday there was a little girl who kept coming up to him and swearing at him. He said "Mom, she was using words that you or I have never heard before! I kept chasing her away and telling her to stop." So I asked him "What can you do tomorrow to improve the situation?" He said "But Mom, I asked her a hundred times to stop."
"OK", I said "Maybe you can pray for her. Maybe she doesn't know how to make friends, or maybe she doesn't have any friends. Sometimes kids talk like that because they think it makes them look grown-up or important. Tomorrow if she doesn't stop, maybe you could go to the counselor and tell her that the language is offensive to you and then let her take care of it, OK?" He said "that sounds good, Mom."
Next day....first thing he says when he gets in the van...."It worked, Mom!! I offered her a piece of gum, asked her not to swear and now we are friends.! She's not that bad after all." I said "That's great, son. You handled it very well."
So there you have it folks, my son who has very little experience in the outside world came through like a champ. Now I know that all of the Moms out there who send their kids to PS have these experiences on a regular bases, but this is our first real encounter with the culture of PS. I think he did pretty good.
I am not saying that swear words defines PS culture, it is only a small part of it. To give you an idea, here are a few things that my kids have learned this week.......
*The meaning of "cutting" and not to do it.
*Trading snacks out of their lunches.
*Not to hold someones hand, even if you really, really, really want to be their buddy.
*That all 7 year olds should have iPods.
*That everyone does almost everything (eating, lining up, walking somewhere) together, at the same time.
*Changing in front of other kids, which they do not like at all. (swimming is a daily activity at camp).
*That "OMG" is a very common phrase. (I am glad this offends them).
I had forgotten about alot of these things. I have realized this week that my kids are quite clueless when it comes to fads, popularity and the conveyer belt method of doing things. Is it good or bad? I don't know yet, only time will tell. I'm just glad that childhood is temporary and
whether or not they ever learn the culture of PS will have no bearing on their success as an adult. Yes, that stresses me out to think that their education is totally up to me, but I know that this is right for our family.
KKS
4 comments:
Kim,
I must say that in a way it is good that your kids are exposed to a different culture, it will make them more prepared for when they are adults.
I would also like to say that the examples you gave sound more like kids from a big city public school, I don't know for sure. All I can say is the school my daughter goes to, most of the kids are very kind, compassionate, and well behaved. Ipods and cell phones are an exception not the rule. Holding hands is accepted. I think it just depends on the schools culture. Bigger schools don't have the man power to monitor things has much as smaller towns with smaller schools.
But it is good that you have given them the tools to deal with some kids whose parents don't give there kids values or guidence or attension like they should.
It is a sad thing that I have run acrossed a few times. Finding out that the friends of my child has parents who could careless what their child is doing or saying. They let them play violet video games that are rated for adults not 7 year old children. By you know it has nothing to do with the school..is it the parent. Which is what I think a lot of the problems in PS have to do with. Let me give you an example: My parents gave us great values, my brother went a stray in High School despite everything my parents tried to do to keep him away from drugs, anyway my brother feel in with "the wrong crowd" gave up his good grades for skipping school and getting in trouble. He now has a vision that education is a waste of time. He met a women that he married who has the same values about school, she too came from a troubled past, being kicked out of her house at 16, they now have to teenage boys together. They have never once helped those boys with there schoolwork or given them any guidence or values. Because of that, my nephews, hate school, have bad grades, stay up as late as they want, are not monitored on the computer, the oldest has a girlfriend, to which he as admitted at 15 years of age, has already had sex with. They are often rude and have to respect for my parents belongings when they are upstairs visiting my parents, or should I say using there stuff. Oh and did I mention my brother still lives at home, and is separated from his wife?
What I am gettig at through this incredibly long post(sorry about that) is that it is the parents that make these kids, not the schools, the school have to constantly deal with kids like my newphews with out the resources they need because the state is always cutting the schools budget and taking away there resources. Do I blame my parents for not doing more for my brother yes, they could have forced him into a rehab early on in his teenage years, but they didn't. Lack of knowledge or somethig I don't know.
But I don't that I am ultimately responsible for my children's education. I use a combination of PS and homeschooling. I let them do what they need to meet PS guidlines and then I add to there education, epsecially during the summer. I guess I just wanted to say that while PS do make the kids conform to schedules and rules, the values and behaviors your kids encountered didn't come from the school, it came from the parents.
Love and Light
Shellie
Oh, and I am glad to hear everything is going good with your pregancy, I hated that orange stuff too. You would think that with todays technology there would be a better less disgusting way to test for diabetes.
Oh well, glad to hear all is well.
Do you plan to find out the sex of the baby or do you wait and let it be a surprise?
Love and Light
Shellie,
What you say is true. Public school could be the perfect system if lazy parents would take an active role in raising their kids. But instead, they let the school/daycare raise them and those institutions don't have the man power to care enough.
The problem is...I haven't yet figured out a way to seperate the two. I mean, can you have the school without the culture?
I guess we all pick our battles because, personally, I don't want the extra burden (as their Mom) of defending our values when they spend the day living by someone elses. I have chosen the burden of educating them myself instead. Hopefully, in the end, they will be better off because of it.
Hi Kim,
SO glad to hear good baby news. You remain in my thoughts and prayers.
k
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