Makin' Stuff

I've been busy making all sorts of groovy stuff to sell at Mama's Happy in Mound. I'll post photos as soon as I have everything done. After I got started I realized I should have had before & after pics, but that would have required planning. You'll have to settle for the finished product, I guess. I even re-did some furniture this time! I'll be back with pics soon....

I'll Be Around More Often Now, I Swear!

Where to start, where to start? I finished the school year out, had a 3rd surgery on my ankle, survived summer and now we're settled back into our school routine. One kid has gymnastics 2 nights a week, the other has music lessons 2 nights a week. Me? Still trying to figure it all out.

I have realized that whatever I do, it needs to be creative or crafty. The floral design gig with my friend really works for this. It's really part-time though. I'm trying to figure out how I can make that into a full-time money-maker, or do I find something else to supplement it with?

I have been selling some things through a new store in Mound called Mama's Happy. It is such a fun store! I've been doing okay, but not getting rich by any means. I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it financially to continue to make things to sell in stores or if I am merely breaking even as my hubby thinks.

I love the creating and if I can make some $ selling things I create - great. If I'm just wasting time - not so great. Hubby thinks I should substitute teach but I don't know if I can stomach it after being in the schools full-time last year. Some day I will blog about that whole disaster, but I still can't bring myself to talk about it.

For now - I'll post pics of things I create and you all can go buy them at Mama's Happy and help support my family. Deal?

Thinks that make you go hmmm..

So the story about the Houston teacher attacking the student? I cannot condone an adult (teacher or not) hitting a child (still a child - he was 13), but let's look at the facts that the media is not giving us.

1. The Houston school is on for students with criminal records - yep. Criminal records. As in 13 years old with parole officers.

2. The Houston school district has basically washed their hands of this school. The staff is in their own with these kids (seems to me like these brave souls should be receiving EXTRA support, but that's just me, I guess).

3. The kids at this school have behaviors so intense that there are not even chairs in the classrooms as they are considered a danger.

4. The teacher in question was a first year teacher, fresh out of college with no special training to deal with these behaviors (is that even legal?)

5. The student in question was degrading a special needs student in front of the class - he wasn't just sitting there minding his own business when the teacher suddenly went ape-shit.

Now again, I am NOT by any means condoning her actions. I am only trying to say that we are receiving a very one-sided story from the media on this one. Until you have worked one day in a school, do not judge this woman for losing it. Take this as a wake-up call and get MAD. Get MAD at parents pop out babies addicted to drugs and alcohol. Get MAD at parents who are uninvolved in their children's lives. Get MAD at school districts that do not provide support and adequate training for teachers and staff dealing with these issues. Get MAD at the government for continually cutting funding to schools. Get MAD at parents who set the example for their kids that they can continually blame their mistakes on others. GET MAD!

Bucking the system

Oh man. I really did it this time. A fellow parent from the school my son attends (the same one I work at) asked me to participate in a meeting withe the superintendant, assistant superintendant, and a school board member about the issues at the school. I agreed and went representing other concerned parents and also the paras at the school who feel like things are out of control and we have no support from the principal.

I think the meeting was eye-opening for the administration. No one has really said anything about all of the behaviors at the school because they worry about not having a job next year if they speak up. I also really believe that the principal is not correctly reporting the incidents as I know for a fact that many of them are down-played. Things like weapons, fighting on the buses, and the like. It's disgusting and not a safe environment. Most of the kids she seems to be lenient with are the kids that bussed in from N. Minneapolis. So happy that my tax dollars are paying for troubled students from other districts to be bussed to my neighborhood school where they make life a living hell for the teachers, staff and students. Good thing the principal protects them though. It would be a shame if they were actually held accountable for their actions instead of being allowed to continue to blame others.

We'll see if anything happens from the meeting. It's not that I don't like the principal, it's just that she's not doing her job and next year she'll be at a K-5 school and I am concerned that the problems will just follow her there.

How to Hurt An Old Guy

10 kids under the age of 15 plus 5 dads in their 40s equals one spirited and full-contact kickball game!

We had 4 families over for a little get-together last Saturday and the kids ended up challenging the dads to a game of kickball. This was no ordinary kickball game though - not when the dads involved are all super-competitive types who also happen to be just a tad uh... immature when they get together. To give you an example, my husband's favorite method of 'tagging' the kids out was to nail the ball at their ankles to knock them off their feet. It was ll in good fun and no one got hurt until one of the dad's dislocated his shoulder (previous injury involved) and had to ram it into a wall to pop it back in. Now that's a fun afternoon! Here are some pictures for you - enjoy!

Back in the cast again

Hanging out on the couch again. I find out on Thursday when I can return to work (not that I'm in any hurry, but walking and driving again would be nice). I thought it would be today, but at my 1st recheck after surgery the doc said "we'd discuss my return to work at my next appointment."

I woke up at the end of my surgery and watched a little of it on the tv screen. It was really weird. I could see all these people bending over my ankle, which was cut open. It looked like they were pulling really hard on whatever they were trying to get out. Ewww. I kept thinking that I shouldn't look, but it was like a train wreck. I couldn't look away! After the surgery, the doc said I might have some permanent numbness/nerve damage after this one. He was surprised by how quickly the cyst grew.

I know everyone is good at something, I just wish I wasn't so good at growing ganglions.

CRAP

So... the nasty ganglion inside my ankle has returned. Well, not really. It's a new one, I guess. So I'm back in my walking cast until another surgery on 3/19. After that... who knows? Much the same as last time, I guess. Casts, crutches, a scooter (that should be fun at school!) the 2 new things this time around? A longer time completely off my foot and a handicap permit thru JUNE. Dang. That's a really, really long time. I haven't quite wrapped my brain around it yet. I'll be back with more later...

Great frustrations, to say the least

So. The kid that threw the chair last week? Technically shouldn't have been in school because she should have been suspended (according to district guidelines anyway, which our principal doesn't feel the need to follow). But she was in school and on Thursday at recess I saw her chasing kids and making a stabbing motion. Weird, I thought, but it looked as if they were playing a game. I still moved closer to get a better look and saw her doing it again. Since I was closer, I saw she had something in her hand that looked like a pink pencil. She was making stabbing motions at the kid she was chasing. Not a game. I told her to stop and come to me. She of course turned her back to me and I saw her put the object in the pocket of her snowpants. When I asked her for it, she pulled a plastic toy out of her coat pocket and tried to tell that's what she had. Ummm. No. Wrong pocket. Wrong color. Wrong shape - this was a monkey, not a pencil. Obviously, she thinks I'm an idiot. I asked for the object in her snowpant pocket - she started yelling that she didn't have anything and trying to get away. I saw the object poking out of her pocket and reached for it. She went ballistic and stared hitting me and screaming at me and twisting away. Long story short - I pulled a long, pink hard plastic thing with a sharp tip from her pocket. She said it wasn't hers. She ended up being restrained until we could get help to take her to the principal (who wouldn't come down on her own).

So. District guidelines call for a 5 day suspension for the assault on myself & the other 2 students. I don't know what she got. She was gone yesterday, but I bet she'll be back Monday. She told the principal that I was touching her inappropriately and trying to pull her pants down. If I did it again she was going to kill me. Yes. That is definitely something I would do - and right smack in the middle of outdoor recess. NOT. The principal reviewed the tapes from the video cameras on the playground and guess what? She wasn't able to see the kid making the stabbing motion, so it must not have happened. Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME??? I have the weapon, I SAW her doing it. 3 other staff were with me restraining her when I pulled the thing out of her pocket, but because she was out of camera range it didn't happen?? Lady, you have no business being a school leader. I shudder to know that you are going to be the principal at my children's school next year. Can you say open enrollment anyone???

Big Liar

Sure. I'll post more often. I'm glad no one was holding their breath! I've been having problems with my ankle again and have to have the new cyst (yep, that's right) needle-aspirated with ultra-sound guided by an interventional radiologist today. Sounds expensive, doesn't it? Hopefully the 4th time will be the charm....

Work is still going well, but many of the kids are VERY challenging. I get really frustrated because many of the behaviors we deal with have a district policy for the consequence that is not followed thru on. For example - a student threw a chair across the room this week, narrowly missing several classmates. Her consequence? One day in school suspension. Apparently they couldn't get a hold of her mother. So was she suspended the next day? Nope. She was back in school. Nice message we're sending there.

The kids talk back constantly which is one thing that makes me WILD. You ask or tell them to do something and they are right in your face "why do I got to do that?" or "man, I didn't do nothing, why you hating on me?" Nothing is ever their fault, they take absolutely NO responsibilty for their actions. Of course, this is not reflective of all the students, just a subset of problem children. Again, trace it all back to PPP - piss poor parenting. I feel like these are the kids that are running the school, not the good kids. The change needs to come from the top - principal. Hopefully next year when the boundaries are re-drawn and schools are switched around, the dynamic will change.

I'm Baaack!

Really sorry for the long absence. Really, I am. Life has been busy and changing and, and, and... After I got the greenlight to walk again from my surgon, I went out and got me a full-time job. You heard it! I am gainfully employed, full-time for the first time in uh, 1o years? I am an educational assistant in the 4th grade at my oldest's school. It's good. School has changed A LOT since I last taught 4th grade. Needy, needy, children. Whoa. I'll be venting quite a bit here. Mainly about bad parenting and how these bad parents are fucking up ('scuse me) their kids. It's a BIG peeve of mine.

The last 4 months have been all about getting the family used to a new schedule, getting me used to a schedule of any sort, and trying to come to terms with the fact that I cannot do everything I used to do with the addition of full-time employment. It's just not gonna happen. I have to let go. It's hard. I can't be a type-A, OCD, clean-freak mommy. It makes NO ONE happy. We all need to compromise. Cleaning is what I'm letting go(well not completely - don't call the Health Dept. on me or anything!) so that I can still do the things I LOVE to do. It's all about balance, right? I'll keep telling myself that and you keep believing it, okay?

So expect to see me a bit more often. I guess I'll need to change the "about me" section of my blog too - another year come & gone. Yikers - 41!