Mustaches

As I've said before, I like DonorsChoose.org. Unfortunately my attempt at directing readers to a group of BCPSS projects that I selected was a total failure. I'm thinking the issue was that I just didn't have a catchy-enough concept going. Plus, this blog is anonymous, and who wants to sign on with someone that they can't see? So my idea is to link you to someone with a catchy theme and pictures and some deserving projects. The theme is Mustaches 4 Kids - Baltimore and the dude with pictures is Nick "Oates (not Hall)" Greer and his projects are here. If this guy is willing to embarrass himself with a rather, how shall I say... sketchy... mustache, I think it's the least we can do to pitch in towards the projects that he's selected.

Some Justice

I posted this spring about a teacher in St. Lucie County Florida who had her class of kindergarteners vote on whether a 5 y.o. presumably autistic child should be allowed to stay in their class after he stood and listened to why they didn't like him.

It turns out that the school board has suspended the teacher without pay for a year as detailed in this story. I found it kind of encouraging until the end where the mom was saying she felt she had to homeschool her son because of how bad he feels about the incident.

I guess there is some level of justice to be found here, but the root cause of the problem is that a teacher with so little understanding and training about special needs kids was allowed to teach this class. I would feel better if the story had included a statement about how the district was going to prevent this from ever happening again. As it is, I just worry more about my special one and what's lies in his/her future.

Things that wear me out

1. Teenagers, adolescents and the hormonal/emotional roller coaster that they are on
2. Bureaucracies that eat up records requiring me to check that everything has made it to everyone who is supposed to have this information
3. Important enrichment activities outside of the school day that require modifying my work schedule, split second timing to avoid being late and too much time in my car
4. High stakes tests/classes that will have big impacts on my kids futures that I have to just sit back and watch
5. The alternation of "things are going very well" with "there are big problems here" with little or no warning of the change coming up
6. Staying up late to watch election results
7. The seemingly endless list of things that I, as an involved parent, should contribute time/money/energy to that I actually do care about and can't blow off, even if it kills me
8. Waking up before the alarm goes off because I'm thinking about all this
9. Almost forgot my favorite...washing machines that forget they're supposed to turn off if unbalanced, walk across the hall, smash into a wall and then fry their little brains, thereby forcing me to sit in a laundromat because the repair-person can't come for 4 days and then has to order a part that will take 3 more days which the stinking diagnostic code said he'd need to get, but he couldn't decide to do that until he had actually come out to see the machine...lovely.

That being said, I am beat. I know wishing away your life is a bad idea, but the Thanksgiving break can't come soon enough.

That sounded a lot like whining. Something positive? The special one is making eye contact, socializing more and disrupting the class less. That makes me smile even if I am half asleep :-)