Dear Obama

***Disclaimer****

This was emailed to me. It is a forward and I don't know where it originated, but it is damn funny....and sadly true.


Dear President Obama,

I wish to thank you for helping my neighbors with their mortgage payments. You know the one's down the street that in the good times refinanced their house several times and bought SUV's, ATV's, RV"s, a pool, a big screen, two Wave Runners and a Harley. But I was wondering, since I am paying my mortgage and theirs, could you arrange for me to borrow the Harley now and then?

P.S. They also need help with their credit cards, when do you want me to start making those payments?

P.P.S. I almost forgot - they didn't file their income tax return this year. Should I go ahead and file for them or will you be appointing them to cabinet posts?

My battle With Public School...Act One, Scene One

As many of you know I've been frustrated with our public school system for some time. Today I was at Mackenzie's school as a parent helper and happened to get a chance to sit down with the principal for a few minutes to discuss some of my concerns. After our meeting she emailed the teacher I had some issues with and that teacher called me in to discuss it. I met with her and we had a good conversation that basically ended in us respectfully disagreeing. She called me later and told me that she had emailed the principal back with the results of our discussion and then the principle emailed her back with some things. She wanted to clear up some points and informed me that she would be emailing the principal back and she would copy that email to me. Well, she ended up sending me the entire back and forth emails between the two of them. I was annoyed that the whole high school nature of the emails and decided to respond in an email sent to both of them. I thought I would share all the email fun with you guys! Let me know what you think!

Here is the first email from the principal (Kitty) to the teacher (Deb):


Deb,

Mrs. Tiffany Dxxxx stopped in today. She would like to meet with you. She is concerned because she feels that the standards have dropped in your classroom. She gave specific examples such as the journal does not have to be completed any longer and that students do not have to complete the agenda book. Please call her at XXX-XXXX. She would like to meet with you any day after 12:30.

Kitty

Email #2


Kitty,
Thank you for the information. I meet with Mrs. Dxxxx after school today. We had a pleasant conversation regarding the changes in expectations for daily journal writing and signed agenda books. She expressed that although she has certain expectations for Mackenzie, she understands given the reasons I shared.
Mrs. Dxxxx also shared that she went to talk with you, instead of myself, because she wanted to express her frustrations with the school, as a whole.

~Deb~

Email #3
Deb,

When Mrs. Dxxxx entered the main office she explained that she did not know with whom she should talk. Mrs. Shumaker ushered her into my office. In her conversation with me, Mrs. Dxxxx did not express any concerns with any other teacher or school items with the exception of your classroom. She shared other parents have come to speak with you and they did not feel that you heard their concerns.

Kitty

Email #4


Kitty,

I just got off the phone with Mrs. Dxxxx and I am courtesy copying her in this correspondence. Mrs. Dxxxx shared that today she walked into the office for the purpose of scheduling an appointment. She found out that you had 10 minutes or so and shared with you at that time that she probably should have had conversation with me first. She did not feel that she probably had sufficient time to "get her thoughts together." She confirmed that she gave specific examples of changes in the classroom, but maybe you "just didn't get" that she had concerns about the school and with other staff. She did not confirm your statement that "other parents have come to speak with...[me]...and did not feel that...[I] heard their concerns."

~Deb~

And here is my reply with I emailed to both the teacher and the principal.


Mrs. Zxxxxx & Mrs. Hxxxxxx,

I do not wish to engage in a "he said, she said" kind of discussing. I am sorry for any confusion. I will address my thoughts to both of you in this email so we are all on the same page. First of all, my concerns are with the overall education system that we have experienced, but the issues I have discussed with both of you from Mrs. Hxxxxx's class are specific examples. I am not trying to assign blame, rather I am trying to point out areas that I feel need changed or improved upon.

I am disappointed with the expectations for my (step) daughter. At the beginning of the school year, I was satisfied that the work level and the classroom structure established was appropriate and that the level of communication would be high. I was very pleased with the way the agenda book was to be handled. My step-daughter is very bright, but we are continually battling with her responsibility and communication skills. I was relieved to know that both the teacher and I would be required to sign the agenda book daily so that I would know if she was missing work or having trouble in any areas. I was also happy with the nightly required reading and journal entries. There was also to be a small amount of take-home homework each week that could be expected. In the beginning of the year she was managing her time with these assignments because she knew they were required. Now that all of these things have been dropped as requirements, she complains that I make her do them anyway when they aren't graded or counted for credit. I feel that these are important or they wouldn't have been started in the first place.

It is my understanding that there are some students whose parents do not help them at home and that because they cannot meet the requirements (through no fault of their own) the requirements have been dropped. While I understand this, what it means for my child is that the expectations for her have been lowered. I realize that there is no perfect solution that works for the entire student body. My concern with the education system as a whole is that as the standards are continually lowered to make every child able to succeed in every situation, the students are no longer challenged. Why can't exceptions for those students without parental support be made instead of changing(lowering) the expectations of ALL the students? Why not require the students to read nightly and fill out a reading log without parent signatures? This way the requirements and expectations are put on the heads of the students without relying on the parents. Those students without parental support are going to have to do homework someday, why not begin teaching the responsibility now? I want my daughter to be prepared for the years that lie ahead.

While I am airing my thoughts, I have one other thing to share that I haven't discussed yet. In another of Mackenzie's classrooms some politically slanted comments have been made that I do not appreciate. Mackenzie came home to tell me that "President Bush was the worse president ever". When I asked her why she felt that way, she didn't have an answer other than that is what her teacher told her. When I asked her why her teacher thought he was a bad president, she said that the teacher didn't say. I don't think it is a teacher's place to express their political or religious beliefs to students without at least sharing both sides to the argument. As a fourth grader, my daughter believes that teachers are always right and she doesn't completely comprehend the difference between a teacher's opinion and fact. Mackenzie took the statement that her teacher made as a fact, not the teacher's opinion. I wasn't there and I don't know exactly what was said, but from several things Mackenzie has told me throughout the year, I know this teachers political views and I know they have been filtered to Mackenzie. I believe she should be learning about government and politics from a bi-partisan viewpoint.

In conclusion, I do not want to point fingers or criticize. I do want to express what I see happening and how I feel about it. I don't think I am the only parent with these concerns or frustrations. When the community is standing at the polls, making a decision to vote for or against the levy, these are the things that affect that decision. I am concerned that as the public school system lowers expectations for students, those top students will move to private or home schools, starting a trend that will be the eventual downfall of the system. I am a product of Greenville City Schools and would like to continue to be proud of that. I want to see the school system succeed and improve. I would like be confident that my children will receive a quality education that challenges them and helps them grow and prepare for "the real world."

Thank you both for taking the time to address my concerns. I hope I haven't come across as "just complaining", but rather as trying to express some issues that I (and others) feel are important. Please feel free to contact me with any further concerns or questions.

Sincerely,
Tiffany Dxxxxx

I'm Not Ready For My 4th Grader to Learn About Abortion...Public School Outrage part 2

My step-daughter came from school with a project to do a report, oral and written, on Gloria Steinem. Now I'll be quite honest, I didn't know jack about her. Sure, I've heard of her, but I couldn't remember anything specific. Anyway, Kenzie gets started on finding all of the information that must be in the report. She hops on Wikipedia and starts gathering the usual stats...place and date of birth, education, family, ect. When she gets to the part of having to explain "What are they famous for?" she calls to me for help. I go to the computer to help because she "doesn't understand what these things are." Wikipedia says, "Gloria Marie Steinem (born March 25, 1934) is an American feminist icon, journalist, and social and political activist. Rising to national prominence in the 1970s, she became a leading political leader of the decade, and one of the most important heads of the second-wave of the women's rights movement. She is the founder and original publisher of Ms. magazine, the founder of the pro-choice organization Choice USA, co-founder of the Women's Media Center, and was an influential co-convener of the National Women's Political Caucus."

Hmmm.

How to explain this to A FOURTH GRADER.

Call me uptight or old fashion, but I just don't think that my fourth grader is ready to have pro-choice explained to her. Actually, I think fourth grade is a bit young to be explaining feminism to.

It gets worse. Here are some Gloria Steinem quotes we found while searching...

"A liberated woman is one who has sex before marriage and a job after."

"A woman reading Playboy feels a little like a Jew reading a Nazi manual."

"Pornography is the instruction. Rape is the practice, battered women are the practice, and battered children are the practice. "

"The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off.”

She was quoted in The New York Observer saying "getting rid of George Bush, by any means necessary short of violence,” because, obviously, it affects everything else. “We are not in his control,” Ms. Steinem said, “so I say, fuck him. You can write your article, I can write my book. He can’t do anything about it."

And in the same above mentioned article she was asked to give advice to young women of today. Her response? To do "whatever they fucking well please".

She is also noted for her opinions on women's rights, the "sexual revolution," consumerism, and the "Playboy philosophy".

As a parent, I am outraged that a teacher would give this person to my fourth grader to go research. Trust me, all of the above took me less than 30 minutes to find. There is a lot more where that came from. Luckily, I was there with Kenzie and was able to stop her research before she found the above. I sat her down and explained that I don't want her to work on this report anymore. I told her that I don't think that Gloria Steinem's accomplishments are something that she would be able to understand very well and there are things about her that are not age appropriate.

Tomorrow, I fully intend to go to Kenzie's school and have a "chat" with her teacher. This is the same teacher I complained about here .

What do you all think? Am I right to be upset about this? Should I confront this teacher? What would you say?

True Cowgirl

Charlie got her first pair of REAL cowboy boots today. She's had cowboy boot-like booties, but these are actual cowboy boots. Ropers. She was so proud of them!















She liked them so much that she didn't want to take them off. She finally agreed to take them off and go potty, but she had to hold them.














I finally managed to get her in her pjs, but she ended up back in her boots. She decided to wear them to bed. That, my friends, is a true cowgirl at heart!














** The picture quality is bad b/c I had to take them from my phone.

It's Friday Night and My Mango Margarita is Gone

Hey guys!! It's Friday night and I'm the only one left awake at my house. Tonight my favorite blogtalkradio show had a Stickam party and it was a blast! If you haven't listened to Uncorked, you should go check it out. Kadi and Danielle are the hosts and they are hysterical. They talk about sex and all sorts of other fun stuff. Basically it is the kind of conversation you would have with your closest girl friends. It's exactly what I need after a full day of kid conversation. I get adult talk...it's great. I will warn you...it is definitely not a show to listen to around your kids. It's strictly adult conversation. Also...it is not always PC and not always clean language, but that is what I love about it. There next show is Monday, but you can go back and listen to the past shows. If you are fun and daring or want to be, I highly recommend it!

Go Bucks!!

I came across these pictures they other day and thought I would share them. To really appreciate them, you have to be an Ohio State Buckeye fan. This is from our county fair in August 2008. My hubby helped his daughter get ready for the fair parade and this is what happened...





Note the detailing... the stripes painted on the horses back match the team's football helmets.

Someone Diagnose Me Please

I'm feeling overwhelmed this weekend. I sure there is probably some diagnosis a mental health doctor could give me. I'm not ready to go there yet, so I thought I would let you all take a stab at diagnosing my disorder.

Here's my problem. I overextend myself and then get so overwhelmed that I just don't do anything. It's like I go on strike from my life. I quit worrying about housework. I quit all my projects. I just sort of drift while chastising myself for being so behind, yet I don't actually do anything about it. Eventually I snap out of it, and then I go to the extreme in getting everything back on track. I'm the type that just can't bring myself to do chores on a daily basis. I wait until I can't stand it anymore and then I go on a cleaning spree. Same with projects...totally procrastinator. I've been like this for as long as I can remember. When I was little I would wait until my room was a complete disaster and then one day I would just go crazy cleaning....and rearranging furniture. When I was in college I would wait until the night before a big project was due and then pull an all-nighter. It always worked for me. I got A's in school. But now that I'm in real life with kids, a husband, a job and tons of other stuff, it's getting to be too much. How do I make myself be motivated all the time instead of just sporadically? Intellectually, I know that doing one load of laundry a day is much easier than doing 7 on the weekend. Still I put it off. I've thought about this all weekend (instead of cleaning) and I still can't figure out why I'm like this.

Any suggestions? Are any of you like this?