Why listen to me? I'm just your mother.....

I sat and watched him all night, eating like a puppy who has just discovered a new food. I can't count how many times I gave him "the look". He kept on putting the food in his mouth. When the food is good, sometimes it is hard to stop. Ice cream, cookies, cake , pie He reminded me of the kid from that Charlie and the chocolate factory, you know the one who got stuck in the Chocolate River tube because he was so fat? yeah. that kid was MY kid on Christmas. He rolled around on the floor like a drunken midget and finally found his way to bed (he camped with me because i knew what was coming but decided that i didn't want a repeat of the Jimi Hendrix episode) So he blew chunks around 1am. all i have to say is yuck, yuck, yuck and double yuck.*sigh* His uncle and i did some direction to help him clean up. i had to stay clear of the bathroom for at least 15 minutes because of the smell. *sigh* I have found that you can only nag so much then you just have to wait and see and hope that they learn. Let's just pray he did... Goddess
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Goddess Rambles about Charter Schools

i do see some successes in the charter schools in my area. there are populations that have been painfully under-served. in my case, Black students... yes i know there are many other students who fall into this niche, but i will only talk about what i know. the goal in the school was to give everyone a chance at a quality college-prep educational opportunity. the downside is the proposal was fought like it was the plague. we had a school, the school was empty. we were not shuffling kids about, we just wanted a place for OUR kids... and we take everyone but hear me out. We had to go grassroots to lift enrollment. we pushed in our churches and through our families and we now have to turn children away. our schools are some of the highest in the state of CA at least if not in the nation for charter schools. now that the schools are doing well, other want to sign up. i was on the waiting list for at least 3 years before my son was admitted. if we could open another school, we would be able to increase enrollment. our high and middle school are on a campus that has the ability to house roughly 2000 students, we have half that. it is almost as if we are being set up to fail because we are successful. there are other schools that have closed down. why not take them over? some points that frighten people. 1. non-union teachers 2. unconventional methods used to educate (sure they don't fit the norm, but they work for certain students and we have studies to back that up) 3. makes other schools in the district look bad (my solution to that is for the regular public schools to step up and make the changes necessary for success for ALL of their students) because a great deal of this is from the perspective of a parent of a gifted child in a public school where there was no GATE program, no instinct from teachers so overwhelmed with extremely high student numbers and lack of funding to manage their classrooms effectively (i rarely fault the educators and i don't fault them in this case either) , I felt i had no choice but to step out of the neighborhood school to help my child succeed. His teacher suggested in the 4th grade that i pull him and try to get him in charter. it is a tough call for administrators, educators, parents, and in many cases even the students. i truly believe that charter schools can be the catalyst for change in the educational system of America.
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TV can be your savior or Satan incarnate...

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As a parent to an extremely intelligent (yes I'm biased) 7 year old, I have learned to pick my battles carefully. I have less and less control over some things as he gets older and I become more exhausted from keeping him occupied while I try to sit down and breathe for a moment, so tv has become a few and far between friend.

In the beginning, (bible study anyone?) there was Teletubbies and Baby Einstein. My son was stimulated into a coma while I ran the house single handed due to a now former husband who wanted to be a rock star more than a father.

Television gave me just enough time to get some very important things done and then the child was pulled away (sometimes kicking and screaming) to use his human power. I would order him to go play in the fresh air and find some rocks to kick around.

I remember the television of my childhood, and it usually happened on Saturdays and not for too long. By noon, my mom was swinging a broom at us yelling "go play outside!" and we obediently filed toward the door.

Well, maybe it was because of the broom...

There was no audible lock, as my mother had an "in or out" rule. If you chose to come in and out of her house too many times bringing in dirt, flies and extra neighborhood kids, you got the all expense paid trip to 'momma's world'. Playing outside was fun. besides, who the hell wants to hang out with your mom and fold sheets all day?
"Not I!" , squeaked the fly (that was the one that sneaked in the house with the annoying neighborhood kids and the dirt.)

More kids should do it.
More parents should demand it.

For my mom, there was no convenience of 24 hour television programming for children. If there was nothing on the boob tube, we were up under her feet and life was bad for everyone.

As a mother now, I prescribe to my mother's saving grace. That is to "get out, stay out and don't come back until I call for dinner or until the street lights come on!" Mind you, this was all said in love, and i think the statute of limitations has run out on a call to CPS.

At an early age, my son was taught to go outside and play.

This upholds the idea that there is a difference between school clothes and play clothes.

I would send him to the backyard at age 3 or 4 and let him have at it. He could play in the hose and make mud puddles and chase the dogs around and get into all sorts of safe trouble. I could peek out the windows and know he was okay and could feel no worse for wear at having to hose him down before bringing him into the house.

I purposely did not subscribe to cable because I wanted to be in control of what my son watched when he did sit down for his coma sessions.

We watch public television. There is so much there for his brain to be inundated with and it is good stuff too.
After he graduated from Sesame Street and Teletubbies (Boobah was all wrong for my house), he moved on to Cyberchase, where got to use his thinking skills and Dragonfly TV where he got ideas for experiments he could do at home.

Regardless what your children watch, Adult Supervision should be required for ALL programming. Your child should feel comfortable asking questions and you should be there even if the question that comes up is "why does Tinky Winky carry a bag?"

At the same time time, children should be jazzed to go ride their bikes and build forts and get dirty.
Our only requirements as parents now is to not only demand that they use; instead of sedate their brains but dig in with them as well.

Ramblingly yours,

The Goddess