I have wanted to get a new tatoo since we got Noah’s referral. I wanted it to be special and reflect my love and gratitude for Ethiopia. Here it is.
Just Another Reason Why We Shouldn’t Be Solving The World’s Problems
I was listening to NPR this morning and was reminded of yet another reason why we shouldn’t be attempting to solve the world’s problems. In case you haven’t heard–there is a war on drugs. I know crazy. I have always believed this “war” was a complete waste of money and well my beliefs have been validated. Columbia one of the most dangerous countries in the world and the country that produces them most cocaine in the world has been America drug enemy #1 for a couple of decades. The US has spend billions and billions of dollars trying to eradicate the growing of coca plants. We poison them and then the farmer go somewhere else and replant and the cycle repeats and repeats. Well, Columbia came up with a solution–I know what a novel idea–granted the US is helping with some aid–but it was not in anyway our idea. The government picked a remote area where the coca production is high and was a hot spot for guerrillas and drug traffickers–what did they do you ask? Well they put in roads and build schools and provided the farmers and the community with health services, seeds and training on how to farm. They are basically subsidizing these farmers to grow other crops. Sound familiar? Yeah it’s what we do here for our farmers. How else can we keep them from growing more lucrative crops like weed?
In a years time the coca production is down 70% in this one area and the violence has subsided. This makes so much sense. Maybe instead of bombing and killing people in other countries we should be building infastructure for them so that these people can have their basic human needs satisfied and therefore remove the need for these folks to be recruited into the drug trade or the business of terrorism. If this works in Columbia–maybe we should be using some of the millions and millions of dollars we use on the war on drugs here in America to build better schools and different types of schools in urban areas and more medical/health clinics. Helping people meet their own needs and helping them become self-sufficient really can help eliminate and reduce the issues that hinder the progress.
Who Let These Things Happen?
What seems like many years ago I was a Special Education teacher at a residential facility for children who were too dangerous to be at home or for kids whose family couldn’t care for them. These were students who needed more specialized care than could be offered at home or really were for families who could afford to ship their kids somewhere else so that they didn’t have to manage the care of their troubled child. Most of the kids in my class had severe behavior disorders coupled with mild forms of neurological disorders–autism, tourettes, etc. Many of these kids had caused serious harm at home or were exhibiting behaviors that caused families and others to fear for the safety of the family.
That being said. It was a dangerous job. I was hit, had a desk thrown at me in a fit of rage, my face was spat on (which let me just say is the most disgusting thing ever), my hair pulled, etc. I spent hours at times holding/restraining a child who wanted in that moment to hurt me or anyone badly. I am putting my bias out there as I understand what it is like day after day after day to deal with children who have issues–behavior and learning. I don’t know if you have read about the recent events that have come to light in recent days with congressional hearings about abuse and deaths that have been attributed to teachers and assistants attempting to restrain troubled children. I don’t know all the details and I certainly haven’t done all the research, but I do know that these incidents aren’t isolated and am shocked that teachers who were linked to the cause of death in a child are often still teaching and at the same school. I have seen some atrocious behaviors by teachers towards students–who were not labeled in anyway and can only imagine behaviors that have been used against students who are labeled. Anyway…
I think back to my time working for a public school district as a spec ed sub. I was a TA in a self-contained room in an elementary school so there was no need really for any restraint training and I don’t know exactly how the system here in my city/state works. But I don’t remember hearing about any training. In Cali, where I taught–the school was funded through the county public schools we were just a private facility–I had to endure an entire week of traning on how to restrain a student who was posing a threat. It was tough training. We were each restrained by others in the same positions we might need to use to restrain our students. It was rigorous and I certainly felt safe at the end of the week that if the case should arise I could restrain my students. And I had to. In the year I was there not one student was injured during an instance of restraining and it was used only as a last resort. I just don’t understand why teachers attempt to restrain a student when they trained and really don’t know what they doing or the damage they could cause.
Here’s a link to a story from back in December. I’ll look for current stories more recently.
The Stuff In My Head
I am really out of practice these days interms of posting here and in terms of what to even write about. I love my kids, but can only write about them so much. I have been too busy these days to watch the news or keep up on what is going on in the world. My life has been completely about my kids and me. I have been working hard to make the most of our time together before I go back to work–in two weeks–and they start daycare. It is effecting me much more than I thought it would.
Don’t get me wrong I am so very excited about going back to work andmaking money so that we can actually afford to send Noah to the fancy private school–still sacrificing most things that we use to think were necessary–we are down to 20 tv channels and I love TV. I am not excited about leaving my kids with someone else 4 days a week 7 hours a day. While there is a lot about being at home all day with the kids that is hard for me, I am going to miss them so much. For example, in the middle of this post Noah started to poop and I kept asking if he wanted to go on the potty and he didn’t, finally I convinced him and he went on the potty (for the 2nd time) and said “That wasn’t so bad.” I will miss these moments. There are so many small moments that I am going to miss and that totally sucks.
But if I don’t get out and go back to work and flex my intellect I am going to go insane and will then miss a lot more moments of cuteness. I am happy about the decision but that mom guilt is ever present and that totally sucks. I don’t want to feel guilty for going back to work but then I fell guilty that I don’t feel guilty. What vicious cycle and it sucks that our society has conditioned us on so many levels that leaving our kids in someone else’s care is bad. I know my kids will thrive and love the interaction of other kids–I have two of the most social kids in the world.
I am happy to report that I have dropped my first 10lbs since starting back with my trainer and a nutrition program. I have never felt better and am really happy that I am doing it in a very healthy way. It’s been 6 weeks and while I would have liked it to be 12lbs for 2lbs a week of loss–but I am happy with that. At this rate it will take me 60 weeks to lose the 100lbs I want to lose. So, hopefully I can stick to it.
We finally got around to planting flowers in honor of Noah and Zoë’s birthmothers. We picked roses. There are three rose bushes and a bird bath in the honor landscape–a rose bush for both birthmothers and a rose bush for me. It’s a beautiful and I feel proud to have such a visible way of honoring them and one that will allow the kids to honor them and think about them. The small pink roses are for Zoë’s birth mom and the yellowy/pink ones are for Noah’s. Mine haven’t bloomed yet but will have big lavender blooms. Now here are some pics of the kids from the past few days.
Newsletters coming–I’m a total slacker. Just found out that I earned a 100% on my big huge research proposal for my ed research class and netted a 99% in the class. I am so happy and relieved. Its my first 100% in grad school on a paper. So frickin excited.
Embracing Imperfection 