child education, children, mothers, family: 2008

Monday, 25 February 2008

letting children drive and changing

Letting Children Drive and changing our perceptions of youth

There was a fascinating piece on Campbell Live! last week showing that

puberty was onsetting earlier and earlier, that children were growing

into the bodies of adults much quicker than their emotional and

intellectual maturity. Add on top of that evidence suggesting Brain

development finishes much deeper in your early 20's than the original

18 and that Children who watch a lot of TV actually slow the

development of the frontal lobe where the consequences of your actions

are worked out. This all leads to a teenage nation of physical adults

with the minds of children. This must lead to a revaluation of the

`charge them as adults' mantra that our angry anti-youth (times 2 if

you're brown) sensible sentence brigade chump out with every time a

young person commits a serious crime.

Which leads me to driving. The Sunday papers today are filled with the

story of a sixteen-year-old who died while texting and driving and

another story about a bunch of teens who crashed a car after a binge

drinking session. Why would we allow children to drive cars, as the

evidence mounts that teenagers today are simply children in adult

bodies, perhaps we need to re-examine lifting the driving age to 18?

But if we start that debate, we also need to re-think our attitudes

towards young people, Youth are worshipped by society (everyone wants

to stay young) but are also pillared by the Media for being the cause

of all societies troubles (youth gangs).

To me, the reality is that no other generation have been as mass media

bombarded and have had their self esteem and identity as manipulated

as the current youth generation, and I think this self identity

confusion can only be made worse by having an adult body with a

children's mind and a children's understanding of consequences. More

conservative voices in NZ will claim, `Bullshit, those little buggers

know what they are doing", when you point out the biological science,

the effects of TV watching on frontal lobe development and the much

earlier onset of puberty, they mumble something about Politically

Correct science and turn up Newstalk `The National Party tell us what

to say' ZB louder.

With 2 billion of the planets 6 billion global population under the

age of 18, we need to start these reflections towards a more

compassionate, more informed, less marketed and less reactionary view

2007_01_01_archive

Happy New Year!

I'm nowhere near home right now, and Internet access is sporadic

hence... oh, I could use it as an excuse but mainly I'm just skiving

off and not doing useful things like blogging and, well, shaving.

2005_06_01_archive

Ricardo Semler - Brazil's Caring Capitalist

Ricardo Semler - Brazil's Caring Capitalist was the subject of a quick

and surprising story while on location for SBS TV in Brazil. (There is

a video link too)

George Negus's introduction:

With John Howard proposing radical changes to this country's

industrial relations system - a look at a very different system with a

very different boss on the other side of the world.

In Brazil, on the factory floor and in the office, workers at the

SEMCO manufacturing and services conglomerate pretty much call their

own shots. Some might call it Anarchic Socialism, maybe others,

cutting-edge capitalism - whatever, it's certainly paying financial

dividends.

Indeed, it's so successful that it's unorthodox "worker participation"

approach is being extended to other fields as well.

Well you might ask is there anything this bold Brazilian experiment

could teach us here in Australia? Imagine if you will, students

sacking their teachers!

SBS economics correspondent Peter Martin starts his report in exotic

Rio.

2006_10_01_archive

Hellbound Alleee Show 124: Christian Doublethink

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Aaron Kinney joins us for a discussion about the hypocrisy of belief

and action in the Christian worldview. Francois speaks about how

blog post_1743

Children's Illustration

�Lesley Breen Withrow

�Gartner Greetings

�Paramount Cards

�Designer Greetings

�Gartner Greetings

�Lesley Breen Withrow

�Gartner Greetings

�Learning Horizons

�Lesley Breen Withrow

�Paramount Cards

ihops national pancake day february 12

IHOP'S NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY: February 12, 2008

Third annual celebration to raise funds for Children's Miracle Network

and other local charities

WHAT IS NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY: National Pancake Day, also known as

Mardi Gras (or Shrove Tuesday), is a centuries old English tradition,

in which all dairy products were used to make pancakes in preparation

for Lent. IHOP, with its signature buttermilk pancakes, decided to

take ownership of this annual holiday by creating a nationwide program

designed to thank guests for their patronage and give back to the

community.

WHEN IS NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY: In 2008, Shrove Tuesday shares February

5 with Super Tuesday, when a number of states across the country will

host their presidential primary elections. After attempts by IHOP to

get the Governors of those states to change the date of their

elections for the sake of this time-honored tradition, IHOP agreed to

move its annual celebration by one week to February 12, with many

Governors offering their support by proclaiming February 12 as

National Pancake Day.

NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY HIGHLIGHTS: Since beginning its National Pancake

Day celebration in 2006, IHOP has raised nearly one million dollars to

support charities in the communities in which it operates. National

Pancake Day 2007 was IHOP's largest one-day event in the company's

49-year history. IHOP partnered with Children's Miracle Network and

raised more than $625,000 for children's hospitals and other local

charities. More than one million pancakes were given away to guests in

2007.

NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY 2008: This year's event will be held on February

12, 2008 and will mark the third consecutive IHOP National Pancake Day

Celebration. Once again, IHOP has partnered with Children's Miracle

Network and will give away a free short stack of its signature

buttermilk pancakes to each guest on February 12, 2008. In return,

IHOP asks that its guests consider making a donation to the Children's

Miracle Network, a non-profit dedicated to improving children's

hospitals nationwide, or other local charities. IHOP's goal is to

raise $750,000 for Children's Miracle Network and other charities in

2008. More than 1,300 IHOP restaurants throughout the United States

will again participate in the free pancake fundraiser from 7 a.m. to

10 p.m.

NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY ONLINE: The official web site for IHOP's National

Pancake Day is

www.IHOPPancakeDay.com. On the site, visitors can find his or her

local IHOP restaurants or make an early donation to Children's Miracle

Network. The site also provides information about Children's Miracle

Network as well as links to National Pancake Day news, details and

most importantly stories about the children that benefit from IHOP's

National Pancake Day.

ABOUT CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK: Children's Miracle Network is a

non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of

children by raising funds for children's hospitals. Each year the 170

Children's Miracle Network hospitals provide the finest medical care,

life-saving research and preventative education to help millions of

kids overcome diseases and injuries of every kind. To learn more go to

http://www.childrensmiraclenetwork.org/.

ABOUT IHOP CORP.: The IHOP family restaurant chain has been serving a

wide variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner selections for nearly 50

years. Offering 14 types of pancakes as well as omelettes, breakfast

specialties, burgers, sandwiches, salads, chicken and steaks, IHOP's

diverse menu appeals to people of all ages. IHOP restaurants are

franchised and operated by Glendale, California-based IHOP Corp. As of

September 30, 2007, the end of IHOP's third quarter, there were 1,328

IHOP restaurants in 49 states, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. Virgin

Islands. IHOP Corp. common stock is listed and traded on the NYSE

under the symbol "IHP." For more information, call the Company's

headquarters at (818) 240-6055 or visit the Company's Web site located

at http://www.ihop.com/ .

National Pancake Day Pancakes Pancake Day

at 3:40 PM

obama on children fatherhood families

2005_04_24_archive

Heritage Foundation Choice Report

The Heritage Foundation is all gushy over school choice. Their annual

"Progress Report" can be found here.

Progressives in the politics of education have to find ways to side

with those parents -- usually urban minorities -- who are disgusted

with the public school system while not caving to conservative

interests who would hand our public schools over to private companies

or religious entities. There are good ways to do this. But we

absolutely cannot let the conservatives -- here represented by the

arch-conservative Heritage Foundation -- own this issue. We cannot

simply advocate the status quo (or even the status quo plus more

funding). Some choice is good, but only choice that will benefit and

strengthen our public system of education.

posted by Education at the Brink at 11:50 PM 0 comments

Cause and effect

Chris Correa links to some interesting data about teacher practices in

the NCLB math classroom. Projects are on the way out. Multiple choice

questions are ascendent. Are we surpised?

posted by Education at the Brink at 11:39 PM 0 comments

Courts and schools

The state Supreme Courts have played a key role in increasing funds

for public education over the last few decades. But with new political

pressure to rein in "judicial activism", three red-state courts will

have to make very difficult decisions very soon.

First, Kansas has approved $127 million in new funds for schools. The

Republican legislature insists it's enough; Democratic Governor

insists it's not.

In Montana, rising Democratic star Governor Schweitzer led a

Democratic legislature to increase school funding by $32 million, the

largest increase in over 10 years. The courts had ruled that the

school finance system itself was unconstitutional, though, so the work

there is by no means done. There will be a special session in the

fall.

And in Texas, where I have a front row seat to the disturbing

proceedings, the school finance plan will be hammered out in

conference committee sometime in the coming week. There is an eminent

possibility that no compromise will be reached, which would force a

special session. The Texas Supreme Court will hear the school finance

case in early July.

In this climate of a harsh conservative attack on the courts, it would

be highly unlikely that any court would mandate a dollar amount or a

specific school finance program. They realize that those tasks are

best left to the elected legislatures. (For example, Justice DeGrasse

of New York overreached when he ruled last year that New York City

schools must receive $30 billion new dollars. I agree with him in

principle, but clearly, courts should not be mandating details.)

However, the Courts can -- and should -- articulate broad principles

that will lead legislatures towards constitutional systems. I don't

envy them in trying to walk that tightrope, though.

posted by Education at the Brink at 10:27 AM 0 comments

Education for children of illegal immigrants

There's a nice editorial in today's Kansas City Star about an upcoming

court case that will decide if children of illegal immigrants can

receive in-state tuition rates in Kansas. The author argues that the

children should not be punished for their parents' lawbreaking. It's

something I hadn't thought about before. Find it here (and go to

bugmenot.com for a login).

Here's a sample:

Kansas is well known for a legal battle in which it argued that

some children do not deserve access to a public education.

More than 50 years after Brown vs. the Topeka Board of Education,

Kansas is preparing to do legal battle again - in support of the

children of illegal immigrants.

This time, Kansas is on the right side of the argument.

Recall in Brown that Kansas fought to keep its schools segregated.

The Supreme Court settled that one. This latest fight isn't likely

to go that far.

Eight other states are like Kansas. The states had the foresight to

offer the children of illegal immigrants the ability to pay

in-state college tuition fees, rather than the sometimes three

times higher out-of-state rates. At least seven other states are

also considering similar legislation.

The lower in-state rate makes college financially feasible for

these students, most of whom are poor. How society treats the

children of illegal immigrants is a sideline issue of immigration

reform. The children did not choose their plight.

Yet some argue that they should pay for their parents' mistakes.

They say offering the children the opportunity to pay for college

is akin to "rewarding illegal behavior."

If that rationale were extended to other criminals, the educational

opportunities of all children with a parent convicted of a crime

would be taken away. No one proposes that solution because it is

illogical. Immigrant children are simply an easier target.

Among the lawyers who will argue for Kansas at a hearing May 10 is

the man who laid the legal groundwork to get these children a

kindergarten-through-12th-grade education, Peter Roos. In 1982, Mr.

Roos successfully won a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Plyler vs.

Doe, a case based in Texas.

In Plyler, the court found it unfair to sentence undocumented

children to "a lifetime of hardship" by denying them the

children using writing to express

2007_07_01_archive

Happy Independence Day

In the spirit of this day of our independence from the monarchy, I

pose this question:

Do you suppose the people who get so upset over "activist judges" who

supposedly usurp the authority of the legislature by "making new law"

will be likewise outraged when the executive branch usurps the power

of both the legislative branch (U.S. Sentencing Commission, whose

no asl in magazine teaching exceptional

No ASL in the magazine Teaching Exceptional Children

In this vlog, Carl Schroeder summarizes the article by Ann Sebald and

mini view kendra levin

MINI-VIEW: KENDRA LEVIN

MINI-VIEWS:

Pint-sized interviews that leave you smiling.

Kendra Levin is an assistant editor at Viking Children's Books (an

imprint of Penguin Putnam USA), where she has been for two years.

Prior to that, she interned at Scholastic Trade Paperbacks and worked

for their Book Club Department. Kendra is an award-winning playwright

whose work has been produced off-Broadway. I had the pleasure of

meeting her at the 2007 SCBWI Ventura/Santa Barbara Writer's Day in

Thousand Oaks, CA.

What is the most common mistake you've seen in manuscripts from the

slush pile?

A really common mistake many slush pile writers make is trying to

capitalize on trends in the hope that editors will be attracted to

whatever is "hot". But I always tell people that even if I signed up

your book tomorrow, penguins or pirates or any other trend will be

long gone by the time the book comes out. The best books are timeless,

and nine times out of ten, whatever is lurking around in your own

imagination is more interesting and original than a Harry Potter or

Eragon imitation.

What is the number one piece of advice you would give to someone who

is just getting into the field or writing for children?

My number one piece of advice to beginning writers is do your

homework. That could apply to anything from finding out whether there

might be a market for the kind of book you want to write to making

sure there isn't already something just like it to figuring out which

publisher or editor would be a good fit for your manuscript. You can

save yourself a lot of headaches and heartaches by doing the research

that will serve you and your manuscript.

What's your favorite children's joke?

This joke used to crack me up so much when I was a kid that I told it

to anyone who would listen:

A cop stops a lady driving down the freeway with six penguins in the

car. The cop says, "Lady, what are you doing? Take these penguins to

the zoo!"

The next day, the cop stops the same lady on the freeway. She's still

got six penguins in her car, but now they're all wearing sunglasses.

The cop says, "Lady, I thought I told you to take those penguins to

the zoo!"

And the lady replies, "I did, and we had so much fun, today I'm taking

them to the beach!"

joint ukromanian operation busts

Joint UK/Romanian Operation Busts Romanian Child Trafficking Ring

From the BBC:

Police believe they have smashed a Romanian criminal gang smuggling

children as young as five into the country to beg and steal.

Officers from several forces, including the Metropolitan Police,

raided 17 addresses across the county. At least 25 adults were

held, on suspicion of immigration breaches, deception, fraud, theft

and pick-pocketing.

Police suspect poor families in eastern Europe may be forced into

allowing gangs to take their children into the UK to carry out

offences such as pick-pocketing and thefts near cash machines. They

estimate that each child is worth �100,000 a year to the gangs and

the Romanian authorities estimate there are up to 2,000 children

who have been smuggled into Britain.

The human trafficking trade now generates an estimated �5bn a year

worldwide, making it the second biggest international criminal

industry after the drugs trade.

Figures from the Met showed that before Romania joined the EU, its

nationals were associated with 146 crimes over six months in

Britain. A year after it joined, the figure had leapt to 922 within

the same period. Police believe about 70 people are behind the

majority of the trafficking...

Karl Davis, from education and children services, told BBC News:

"We carried out individual assessments on all these children and

five children remain in our care."

"Five families have come forward and we are satisfied that the

arguments made were sufficient and we were happy for them to return

to their families. We assessed them fully in terms of what the

children and families told us. Some of the families were in the

homes that were raided but some traveled from outside of Slough."

"Some of the children were too young to tell us much. The youngest

is two years old and there are two 14-year-olds. The two-year-old

is still in our care."

The same article has an interview with Christine Beddoe of ECPAT, a

global network of organizations working on eliminating child

exploitation. She speaks a bit more to the areas the UK will need to

improve on in order to help children suffering from exploitation.

According to Reuters, the operation was codenamed "Caddy" and

Commander Steve Allen stated that more arrests are expected. Other

articles seem to confuse trafficking with smuggling, and others yet

call into question whether the children were actually unaware of what

was happening. I'm sure the two-year-old gave consent for the family

to sell him/her and then viciously hit the streets to steal. I

apologize for the sarcasm, but child trafficking targets the most

vulnerable group in society and even if or when the children are

saved, they are faced with the lifelong burden of their experience.

According to a 2005 article on Turkey's efforts to combat human

trafficking, only 30 percent of victims of human trafficking recover

to the point of leading a normal life. This is of course, the

identified victims that organizations and governments are able to

document. I can only hope the children who were returned to their

families in Romania will not be sold again.

This article also details another cost of human trafficking that I

think is striking as I tried to find other articles on the case and

found many had some sort of condescending or doubtful tone to it.

"Another human cost of migrant smuggling is the damage that is done

to the image of migrants, and an increase in xenophobia. Up until

now, unmanaged migration flows in destination countries have

resulted in a perception by the general public that migrants are to

blame for the growth in organized crime. But migration is an issue

that affects us all; it is and always has been a natural human

phenomenon. That is why it cannot be left to criminals to manage

migration for us."

Even the BBC was ready to point out how crimes by people of Romanian

origin was quick to increase in the UK after Romania's accession to

the EU so the article makes an important statement. Human trafficking

is still not a phenomenon we completely understand and until we

realize the extent of the damage it is doing, a complete solution will

not be reached.

Sunday, 24 February 2008

thought numbewr 69 children should not

Categories: Bad Theology, The Church, Thinking on Thoughts of Thinkers

10 thought(s) on this thought:

Anonymous said...

I can't see the video, so I don't really know what's going on

here, and even if I could, judging from what I've read that its

a 20/20 deal, who knows how accurate it is. Are we talking like

teenage preachers being allowed to preach every now and then?

or like an 8 year old kid being the sole teacher of a

congregation? or sitting in an office and counseling people

too? The term "pastor" is used rather loosely sometimes.

October 17, 2007 2:03 PM

TheoJunkie said...

The original link was/is to the Pyromaniac's blog, which

provided a link to a copy of the ABC 20/20 story. I have

updated my post to provide a link directly to the 20/20 story.

However, I wasn't commenting on the 20/20 story, except that it

reveals some churches are using children as pastors. I'm

commenting on the concept of child pastors generally.

No... I would not have too much of problem with a child

occasionally preaching from the pulpit as a "guest preacher"--

introduced by the pastor of the church (i.e., in this case the

Pastor inherently takes responsibility for the content of the

guest sermon by the act of "inviting" the child to give a

sermon). I would expect that this sermon would be presented "in

the context of" the actual pastor's sermon (or series)...

presented clearly as "under the covering" of the pastor, so to

speak.

However, I do have a problem with a child being a regular

preacher or otherwise assuming the office of pastor (even if it

is "associate pastor of teaching and preaching" or some such

title).

The term "pastor" may be loosely used in some churches, but the

Bible is clear concerning the roles and responsibilities of a

pastor (that is, an Elder/Overseer), and seems also -- as

noted-- to assume that these individuals are adults.

Also of note: The Sunday sermon is not any less of a

shepherding function than counseling or leading a ministry.

"Feeding the sheep" is part of what a shepherd does. So even if

the shepherd leaves the tending of stables and the recovery of

lost sheep to others, feeding is still a shepherding role.

I realize my original post seemed to suggest these were

separate roles.

October 17, 2007 2:32 PM

TheoJunkie said...

PS... I note that one of the children featured in the 20/20

story is seen "slaying" people (presumably in the Spirit).

Never mind the validity of this practice for now... It is

something beyond "preaching".

October 17, 2007 2:35 PM

Turretinfan said...

Tim was young, though not that young.

Ordination is good way to prevent this sort of thing from

happening. You'll note that both the children are "lay"

preachers.

-Turretinfan

October 17, 2007 5:15 PM

TheoJunkie said...

Yes... we seem to get the idea that Tim(othy) was at least a

late teen, if not twenty-something. But Paul doesn't indicate

really, except to talk about his "youth".

As "lay" preachers, it would seem that all they should do is

preach... it seems they were taking on more of a (/an

authoritarian) ministry role besides just sharing the gospel

with a microphone.

By the way... anyone who shares the gospel is preaching. So I

am not talking about that type of "preaching". If you have some

kid all fired up about the gospel and they stand up there and

testify and exhort... I would be glad they had the courage and

faith to do it.

October 17, 2007 5:38 PM

Turretinfan said...

"anyone who shares the gospel is preaching"

That's not what presbyterians have traditionally thought.

-Turretinfan

October 19, 2007 5:49 PM

TheoJunkie said...

TF,

I'm afraid I am not able to extract the point of your last

comment from the information you provided.

During my time as a presbyterian, and in my interactions with

presbyterians, I have not encountered them having any

difficulty with the terms used in passages such as Luke 9:6.

Please explain.

October 19, 2007 11:08 PM

Turretinfan said...

TJ,

I'm not sure what you mean by "having any difficulty with the

terms used in passages such as Luke 9:6." So I'm not sure I can

meaningfully comment on that.

What I was trying to say:

Sharing the gospel is not equivalent with preaching. Sharing

the gospel is one part of preaching, but the gospel can also be

shared in other contexts than preaching.

Traditionally (and I cannot say whether the PCUSA has also

abandoned this tradition) presbyterian churches have required

licenses for preaching. Typically that license takes the form

of an ordination to the ministry or a license to preach under

the supervision of a presbytery.

-Turretinfan

October 20, 2007 10:29 AM

TheoJunkie said...

TF,

If you re-read my comment, you should be able to see that I was

saying that "when we preach the gospel, this is technically a

form of preaching... and so therefore I am NOT talking about

that type of preaching." The point being, we (or at least I)

would encourage children to "preach the gospel" (i.e., share

it)... and so the point of this post was not to say they

shouldn't share the gospel.

Note that my original post clearly stated that children should

not be pastors.

I also stated rather clearly (or so I thought), that I include

routine teaching from the pulpit-- in any form-- to be a

pastoral role... and therefore children should not be put in

that position. I also emphasized that IF they are allowed on

occasion to stand at the podium and address the congregation,

it should be only very occasionally, and under the covering of

the actual pastor, who will be personally responsible for the

content of the child's message.

I am not here to discuss, much less defend, PCUSA. I believe

you are aware that I left PCUSA because I find they are

slipping from the truth. However, I will note that while I am

not the most well traveled of humans, my tiny little world has

included quite a few interactions with reformed presbyterians

of various sorts.

It appears that you are taking a rather adversarial tone

against me lately. Perhaps you would like to elaborate either

here or in e-mail where you feel I have strayed. At the moment,

I have the impression that my thoughts on prophecy have caused

you to consider me in general error if not utterly insane,

based on the sudden change of tone in you coincident to my

prophecy post. I would appreciate the favor of an explanation

at your convenience.

Thanks.

October 20, 2007 12:10 PM

Turretinfan said...

TJ wrote: "If you re-read my comment, you should be able to see

that I was saying that "when we preach the gospel, this is

technically a form of preaching... and so therefore I am NOT

talking about that type of preaching." The point being, we (or

at least I) would encourage children to "preach the gospel"

(i.e., share it)... and so the point of this post was not to

say they shouldn't share the gospel."

I respond:

My point was that technically sharing the gospel is not

preaching. I apologize for the confusion that my nit-picking

engendered.

In general, I otherwise agree with you. I didn't mean to

suggest that you had said that children should be pastors.

-Turretinfan

October 22, 2007 9:39 AM

2005_09_01_archive

Children Going BackToSchool Increasingly Login to Educational Teaching Games

Parents have struggled for years with different approaches to helping

their children keep up in reading and math. The computer and internet

have become valuable tools for parents. Online learning can help

children excel at these core subjects since today's online educational

teaching games in reading and math for children from preschool to

fifth grade.

How can online

What types of educational teaching games are available?

- Learning Games on CDs - These can be bought in most stores.

- These games are a lot of fun with some educational components

included.

- The downside is that most "learning games" tend to be more game than

lesson. An upside is that CDs work even when there's no net access.

- Free Educational Game Sites - There are a lot of websites with

"learning and games". But, these sites can be very commercial. Some

even invite children to download games which contain spyware and

viruses. These sites are similar to CDs in that they tilt towards

games with limited educational substance.

- Free Learning Sites - Free learning sites range from those that

provide worksheets to those with interactive exercises. But, it is

left to the parent to provide continuity, determine progress, and to

assemble an over-all program.

- Time4Learning.com - This subscription service teaches children math

and reading skills systematically. Time4Learning tracks the children's

activities and provides them with an effective sequence. Time4Learning

also has reports for parents and games for kids included in the $19.95

monthly fee. http://www.time4learning.com [Learn More] or

http://www.time4learning.com/start/index.htm [Sign Up Now].

Computer-based learning blurs the line between learning and games.

Educational fun games for kids reinforce lessons and can teach new

reading and math skills. Sometimes kids learn better using interactive

educational teaching games, because there's more concentration and

more fun.

About Time4Learning.com

http://www.time4learning.com [Time4Learning.com] is a new approach

that takes advantage of today's technology through

http://www.time4learning.com [learn to read programs] and kids math

games. Its educational teaching games provided by Compass Learning

Odyssey for children allows children to work at their own pace, so

they feel stimulated and independent. Parents like that it tracks

progress and helps children advance by teaching with individualized

learning paths. Kids feel like they are playing games and don't

realize at first that it's primarily educational. The teaching games

assure coverage of the reading and math skills and concepts that help

children succeed. Time4Learning is proven effective, has a low monthly

2007_04_01_archive

From the TCM Gallery Staff

Katy says, "So many of our out-of-town visitors tell me that every

year they come to Tucson, their kids HAVE to come to the Tucson

Children's Museum."

So the next time you're visiting the Old Pueblo, bring the kids and

check us out!

If you're in town during April, click the link to check out what's

happening at TCM:

http://www.tucsonchildrensmuseum.org/April%202007%20Activities.pdf

Posted by Peggy at 4:36 PM Links to this post

Spring has sprung in Tucson!

Check out this great activity just in time for spring. It's colorful,

latisha rutledge and family missing and

Latisha Rutledge and Family: Missing and Found

By Deidra, WAOD Crime Contributor

Last Friday, I posted a story on a missing family from Detroit on my

blog. At the time, Latisha Rutledge (22) and her two kids were missing

for two weeks.

Family members said a pregnant mother from Detroit and her two

small children ages 4 and 2 have not been seen in nearly two weeks.

They were supposed to board a Greyhound bus in Fort Lauderdale,

Fla. headed to Downtown Detroit, but no one has seen them since

they were spotted at the bus station.

Latisha Rutledge, 22, is eight and a half months pregnant, and her

baby is due any day.

Family members said she may have already given birth.

Latisha had been living with her uncle in Florida for a couple months

trying to get her life together but it did not work out for her. So,

on January 11th, 2007 her uncle dropped Latisha and her children off

at the Greyhound bus station in Florida. They were to arrive in

Detroit two days later on January 13th but they never made it.

Rutledge's mother is frightened and frustrated, and said her

daughter has no money.

Greyhound does not require photo identification at all its

terminals so there is no way to know if Rutledge even boarded the

bus.

Greyhound said it can not release passenger information unless law

enforcement request it.

Rutledge's mother Marsella Satchel said she has not been able to

file a missing persons police report yet, because police told her

she must contact every hospital in Fort Lauderdale and Detroit

before it can be filed.

I was very upset after hearing this story and knew that something had

to be done about it. It was just too fishy. It wasn't just the lack of

description on the woman and children that bothered me. I was more

bothered by how the case was being handled. I had so many questions:

Was being pregnant and having two children under the age of 5 not

enough reason for the police to start a search? Is it required to

contact every single hospital in the city if the missing person is

possibly injured or ready to give birth? Is that some kind of new

(and silly in my opinion) policy? Did anybody at the bus station

see anything? Better yet, how can you possibly miss seeing a whole

family board or not board a bus? Were there security cameras around

the station? What is going on??

Desperate for answers, I did whatever I could the last few days to

help find them. I tried everything from contacting police stations and

the Greyhound bus station to looking online for a Myspace or Facebook

profile.

Finally this morning, I decided to go straight to the source: the

newspaper that published the article. I would've done this first but

the article did not have an author or a contact number at the end like

most articles. So I thought it was better to do a little research on

my own. For about 4 hours, I tried to get in contact with the new

station. I had to resort to an online form after realizing I wasn't

getting any answers.

But this afternoon I got the answer that I was waiting to hear. The

managing editor informed me via email that Latisha Rutledge and her

children were located safe and sound! She added "She just failed to

contact her loved ones". I was glad to hear the good news but I

requested an update on the story.

You'd think if you have time to send an email back to me, you'd also

have time to update a story! People were all up in arms about this

(and probably still is) and you can't write one simple sentence about

Latisha and her kids? *sighs* I don't know what to say about all this

but I'm glad they are safe.

playing at mn childrens museum rosedale

2006_12_01_archive

Rosa Parks Day

On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress, defied

the law by refusing to give up her seat to a white man aboard a

Montgomery, Alabama, city bus. Parks was arrested, sparking a

year-long boycott of the buses by blacks that rippled across the

country to change attitudes and laws. Although I grew up hearing that

she was tired and simply wanted to stay seated after a long day of

work, in recent years I have come to learn that she made a conscious

decision to protest by staying put. Learn more about this story from

Nikki Giovanni's picture book, Rosa (Holt, 2005) illustrated by Bryan

Collier. Herself a poet, Giovanni has created a moving narrative

tribute to Rosa Parks, as an individual and as a force for change in

America. Collier's watercolor-and-collage illustrations depict Parks

as an inspiring force that radiates golden light. The book won both a

Caldecott honor distinction and Coretta Scott King medal.

Then follow up with three poem tributes. First share, two poems about

Rosa Parks, one by Carole Boston Weatherford in Remember the Bridge

(Philomel, 2002), and another by J. Patrick Lewis,"The Many and the

Few" in Lives; Poems About Famous Americans selected by Lee Bennett

Hopkins (HarperCollins, 1999). Then, reach back for the classic poem

by Countee Cullen, "Incident," a vivid picture of racism that begins,

"Once riding in old Baltimore." Here, sadly, an eight-year-old child

experiences bigotry on the bus firsthand. The Cullen poem can be found

in many anthologies including a picture book collection compiled by

Wade Hudson for younger readers, Pass It On: African American Poetry

for Children, illustrated by Floyd Cooper (Scholastic, 1993) or for

older readers, I, Too, Sing America: Three Centuries of African

new position for childrens artspace

New Position for Children's ArtSpace

Position:

ArtSpace Program Coordinator - New Community for Children

Last day to apply: March 22, 2007

About the Employer:

New Community for Children (NCFC) empowers children though

educational, cultural, and spiritual enrichment. Toward that end, NCFC

works with parents, teachers, the community, and other social service

organizations in the District of Columbia to address the comprehensive

educational needs of children. NCFC prepares students for

post-secondary education, careers, and/or vocational training to

become responsible, productive adults who, in turn, will their time

and talents back to their communities.

Job Description:

The Program Coordinator will oversee the planning, implementation and

ongoing evaluation of quality and developmentally appropriate

programs, activities, services, and special events for youth ages 6-18

participating in our arts programming. The Coordinator will also

oversee fine art programs made available to other adults and children

in the community. New Community for Children's ArtSpace Coordinator

will be instrumental in establishing a community arts program that

serves not only participants within the NCFC program but area

residents, parents, and partner organizations. Individuals should

submit their resume and cover letter to Deserea Jackson (Office

Manager) at djackson@ncfc-dc.org

For more information and complete job description contact (202)

232-0457.

2006_07_01_archive

University, not brooms

Some weeks ago I mentioned that Blue Dragon was participating in the

World Bank Innovation Day, competing for funds to run programs for

disadvantaged youth.

Since then, a few people have written to ask me the result - we lost!

Our two proposals failed to gain support.

This was kinda surprising for us, because we (obviously) believed that

the proposals were very good. One was to help disadvantaged girls

improve their chances of navigating through the education system; the

other was to train people who work with disabled kids and youth.

So what were the winning proposals, if ours didn't make the grade?

They were much simpler proposals than ours - whereas we tried to be

comprehensive (resource booklets for families, workshops with role

models, training packages, a photography course and exhibition), the

winning proposals were much 'neater' packages. One was simply to rent

a room that children could visit; another was to teach poor children

to make a video documentary about themselves.

In light of missing out on up to $20,000 in funding, my staff and I

have to ask if we should have done things differently. Should we have

made our proposals simpler, too?

And the answer to that is: no.

Many of the winning proposals will result in fun activities for poor

children, but they'll do nothing to get anybody out of poverty.

Some proposals, in fact, were clearly aimed at keeping people IN

poverty!

Activities such as teaching orphans to make straw brooms or to create

paper flowers are the antithesis of anti-poverty programs. But these

are the proposals that won.

Or maybe I am just naive! Maybe teaching children low-value skills,

such as how to make a broom, really is a good idea. Forget computers

and school, kids - the future is in straw brooms!

At the same time that we were competing for the Innovation Day

funding, one of our kids - a boy named hoang - was heading to Sai Gon

to sit an entrance exam to university. (Hoang is pictured below,

standing with the bike).

When I met Hoang, he was a shoe shine boy. His parents had died a few

years earlier in a flood, so Hoang had quit school to earn money for

his elderly grandparents, and also for his younger sisters - so that

they could go to school.

Blue Dragon got Hoang off the streets and into a motorbike repair

course. He did really well in his studies, and then returned to the

countryside where for the next two years he worked part time in a

repair shop, while going to school during the evenings.

Now he's applying for uni, so that he can be a sports teacher.

Hoang is an inspiration to me, and everybody who knows him is amazed

2001_01_01_archive

BAY BUS VANDALS STRIKE AGAIN

From the Herald Express

11 April 2007

Police riding 'shotgun' on a Paignton bus - re-instated more than a

month after being suspended in the wake of vandal attacks - sprang

into action on its first day.

Officers were ready for trouble when the No 2 Stagecoach service in

the resort's Maidenway Road returned on Sunday night.Bus chiefs had

withdrawn the town centre to Foxhole service early last month after

repeated attacks on their vehicles in the Marldon Road and Colley End

Road areas of the town.But after five weeks off the road the bus

returned for business over the Easter weekend, taking in an amended

route in the hope of by-passing bother.Instead it ran into a group of

10 youths who had congregated in Maidenway Road near its junction with

Lammas Lane.But this time the bus company was prepared, as an officer

in uniform was one of six passengers on board the vehicle when two

youths broke away from the gang to allegedly kick the side of the

vehicle.And reinforcements were close by in the form of a trailing

police patrol car.The No 2 service had only been back in business for

four hours when the bus was attacked just after 10pm. No one was

hurt.In early March a Stagecoach driver was lucky not to lose an eye

after his bus was allegedly attacked by yobs.The man was driving the

No 2 bus in the Stanley Gardens area of Paignton when a gang on an

embankment hurled a heavy object down at him.That attack, at 7.20pm on

a Tuesday, was the seventh on that service in the previous three

weeks.Yesterday Stagecoach's operations manager, Richard McAllister,

said the precautions taken in tandem with the police were a measure of

the determination to stamp out the menace of anti-social

behaviour."This was very swift action on the first evening of the

service's return."It sends a clear message we are not messing about.

We are putting the route back for the community who had to make do

without a service for some time," he said.He revealed the operation

had been organised by the police and the company in a bid to thwart

those intent on disrupting a valuable public service.He promised

Stagecoach would continue taking such action as long as the deterrent

was needed.Paignton's neighbourhood beat sergeant, Steve Rook, said:

"It's worth some knowing that we will be riding shotgun, as it were,

on buses in the area."If people do target buses in such a fashion they

might like to know the risks involved."He said police were more than

happy to support Stagecoach in their efforts to deal with the

nuisance.A 15-YEAR-OLD boy spent the night in police custody before

being charged with a public order offence and one of obstruction.He is

due to appear before the Bay's youth court on April 18.

1 return tickets

February 2001 Home

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Rock Walk, Day by Day. Mostly Photos

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About Me

My Photo

David

Torquay, Devon, United Kingdom

I drive a Number 12 Bus from Newton Abbot to Torquay to

Paignton and on to Brixham. Now and then I make notes. I also

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2007_06_01_archive

PARENTING IS NOT SO DIFFICULT....

What is happening to the world of Autism?

There are so many fights going on right now in the world of Autism

that if we do not get our act together, no one outside the world of

Autism is going to take us seriously.

I am speaking at an Autism conference next week. I am speaking as a

mother of 5 Autistic children. Not as a mother of 5 children with

Autism. The reason for that....my 13 year old daughter Deirdre

explained to me, in very simple terms (because that is what I need)

that she wants to be known as a person who is Autistic.

The reason, you might ask......If she is an Autistic person, it is who

she was born to be.

If she is a person with Autism, the Autism can be taken away.

That reasoning I can respect.

When I introduce my children, I do not introduce them as Autistic

children. My children are individuals who happen to be autistic.

I am lucky, they do not misbehave in public..they learned very early

that they would be removed from situations if they could not behave

appropriately in public.

Even Caitlin and Kiernan know this.

Just because you have an Autistic child does not give them free reign

to disturb others in a public situation. If that was the case, we

could allow any person to disrupt any situation.

If you want your Autistic children to be taken seriously, you must

take your Autistic child seriously.

How can we prepare our Autistic children for their future and being

thomas trains poison our children

Thomas Trains Poison Our Children

I am completely beside myself.

Chandler has been full of lead since he was two. We have been

chelating him on and off, but still there is lead. Saw his doc today

and got his test from last week. Looke. Lead.

Then I came home to this:

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07212.html

Well sweet Chandler has spent the last 4 or so years with a Thomas

train in one hand and another in his mouth.

Every autistic, toxin vulnerable boy anywhere has had one of these

trains in his pocket since he had a pocket to put them in.

This is horrible. Who the hell decides to put lead paint on toddlers

toys?

Labels: Chandler, Lead, Thomas Trains

posted by Ginger @ 12:43 AM 3 comments links to this post

3 Comments:

At 11:43 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Ginger,

This is horrible.....my son mouthed a ducky that came from

China and I took it from him. I am sure that he was getting

some toxic "fix" from it. I took out all plastics that went

into his mouth...sippy cups, rings, ect.

He is recovered now, but the two things that helped us the most

were diet and not just GFCF, soy, phenol and sugar free, but

Nourishing Traditions by Pat Fallon. It is an amazing book that

will open your eyes to food and how it can heal. Google weston

price foundation to read about it and Dr. Price's work.

The other was to identify toxins in his environment and

eliminate them as much as possible and that means molds and

fungus too. We also found an awesome homeopath who opens up the

detox pathways in the liver, kidneys and lymph and then worked

to restore cell integrity and adrenals and stimulate his pineal

and pituitary. I know you left CA, he is in Santa Barbara.

He had steady gains with no regression and is in a regular

school with no diagnosis. He never had any ABA, speech or OT. I

did learn and use Floortime with him early on and did lots of

movement based on sensory integration. We only chelated him

naturally. It can be done. Good luck...I am so glad you found

SCD. Check out Nourishing traditions too.

At 12:51 PM, Blogger cws said...

That is terrible. I agree....who thinks that is okay. We can't

have it painted on our walls so why is it in their toys!!

At 7:55 PM, Blogger Bec said...

I'm feeling rather like I shouldn't purchase anything made in

China as the recall list of kids toys with lead paint in them

that is huge. An ABC news article says 233 items from China

were on the recall list in 2006, with lead being a recurring

reason. It's awful, especially this stuff in baby and toddler

products.

2007_06_01_archive

Corrupt Democrats Keep Indicted Democrat in Congress

Democrats loudly claimed they would run the most "ethical" Congress in

history. Yet, still in Congress is Louisiana Democrat Rep. William

"Cold Cash" Jefferson., despite the 16-count federal indictment by a

grand jury on charges of bribery, money laundering, obstruction of

justice, violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, racketeering and

conspiracy over a five-year period involving two continents. During

his arraignment in court, Jefferson claimed that he is "not guilty"

even though, according to the indictment, FBI agents found $90,000

from his freezer "as part of the front-end bribe payment" to pay the

vice president of Nigeria. The indictment further states that the

cash "was separated into $10,000 increments wrapped in aluminum foil

and concealed in various frozen food containers." If convicted on all

charges, he could be sentenced to up to 235 years in prison.

Where's the non-stop press coverage about the Democrats' "culture of

corruption"? Why is there little media attention given to other

corrupt Democrats who were indicted and convicted? For instance, in

May 2004, Democrat Rep. James Traficant of Ohio was indicted by a

federal grand jury on charges of tax evasion, bribery, racketeering,

conspiracy and obstruction of justice. After being convicted of

racketeering and accepting bribes, Traficant was sentenced to eight

years in prison. Also, in 1994, Democrat Rep. Dan Rostenkowski of

Illinois was accused in a 17-count indictment of using taxpayer money

exchanging taxpayer-provided stamps for cash at the House Post Office

and paying congressional salaries to employees who did personal chores

2004_10_01_archive

SPX - The sentimental recap

Wow. What an amazing time. For every person in the past few years who

has urged me to go to SPX, I thank you. Never have I been surrounded

by such an amazing group of people just oozing with talent. I'm not

sure if it has been like this every year but the level of quality and

diversity was just so great. SPX is everything that San Diego is not

-- social in a genuine, non-pissing contest sort of way and truly

community based. No loud booming booths, no costumes, no bullshit. If

one comes away from San Diego thinking "I hate comics," SPX will make

you think "I really love comics." There is not one person who needs

this kind of message every so often, everyone from the guy who makes

fun mini-comics for himself to the bigshot editor at one of the major

companies to the casual fan. It's important to be reminded that, fan

or pro, this is what we love.

Of course for me, it was equally great to see the enthusiasm for and

the amount of kid-related material at the show. Talking with newcomers

like Jef Czekaj and Andy Runton and of course, Jeff Smith give me hope

that comics are moving in the right direction in bringing in a new

generation of fans that will love comics as much as we all do.

I'm going to stop there before I really get going -- but all in all,

this show was truly an inspiring and amazing experience and I will be

2007_09_01_archive

foster children guilt response

Foster Children: Guilt Response

I said that Frankie was very calm yesterday, but I thought I would

write a separate post about why I am grateful, surprised, and

watchful.

Frankie would tell you that this house is the best place he has lived.

It is the first place where he can present as a girl (which by the way

he does far less than I expected -- maybe it is the icky falsies). It

is the first place in a long time (maybe the only place ever?) where

there was consistently plenty of food and an open-door policy to the

kitchen. Frankie still adores that he can make himself a sandwich or

get a bowl of cereal any time he wants.

And there is a "TV dad, like on the Brady's." Now Hubby is not really

all that much like Mr. Brady, but he kinda is to Frankie. Hubby gives

himself breaks, but when he interacts with Frankie he turns on that

Mister Rogers thing. Yesterday Hubby came home excited that he found a

full-size basketball hoop and stand outside a thrift store for $20!

Hubby is not a big sports player, but he would be very willing to go

out and play basketball with boys who are even less good at it than he

is. I think Frankie likes him more than he does the open kitchen.

And Frankie feels deeply guilty for "abandoning" his father. His

father is not an evil person. Like David's mother, he is one of the

millions of people in this world who do not have the skills to take

care of themselves. In a more ideal world, they would live with their

children in supportive environments where they were all cared for. In

a more ideal world, David and Frankie would have never been separated

from their parents, and no one would have expected those parents to be

able to provide food or structure. Our social services doesn't

(can't?) distinguish between parents who are loving but genuinely

incapable of coping with the world, and people who under any

circumstances would be bad for their children.

Where David hated his mother for failing him, Frankie currently hates

himself for failing his father. I think he took on a fair amount of

the adult responsibilities. I imagine that his father did try harder

to keep a job and keep them fed when Frankie was around. Frankie

imagines that after he left for good that his dad spiralled downward.

He may be right about that part.

So the story that Frankie is telling himself is that he was selfish

and unwilling to fulfill his responsibilities. He wanted things he

should not have wanted. He called in the state, abandoned his dad, and

now he has all the things he wanted and did not deserve.

So what will happen next?

If I were the naive parent I was seven years ago I might have just

expected that Frankie would be grateful and happy for all the good

things I am providing.

Now I know that he could go the other way. He could respond by

punishing himself and everyone who dared to give him the things he

doesn't think he deserves. He might inflict pain on himself or damage

to property. So I find myself looking around and thinking, "Is there

anything out here that it would break your heart if he destroyed?

Better baton down the hatches; there could be one heck of a storm on

the horizon."

What I hope though is that Frankie will be able to deal with is

feelings in counseling, by talking and crying with us, and by beating

up wufs in WoW. If it works out that way I will be grateful and happy.

attack of christmas eve vampire zombie

Attack of the Christmas Eve Vampire Zombie Children

This picture of the girls singing at a Christmas Eve service freaked

me out...especially the two girls on the left. Click on the pic for

the full Dawn of the Dead effect. The expression on the kid in the

lower left is priceless. "Is there something behind me?"

2006_03_01_archive

It's a Wrap!

The Utah Legislature will finish up their session for the year tonight

(yeah!). Another year of struggling to fund everything and decide

where the money is to be spent. Even though our state has a surplus of

money, it is still push and shove to get funding for education,

although it will get a financial boost this year. However, there is

also talk about funding teacher raises according to how their students

are performing. In a perfect world, that may work. But most of us in

education know that teachers in at-risk schools work very hard, often

without parental support, to help the children make small gains. There

are also many more affluent schools who have students that will

achieve (because of status and parental support) regardless of how

good the teacher teaches. It is irresponsible to decide that the

teacher in the affluent school should get a bigger raise.

Our governor is also talking all-day kindergarten for at-risk

children. A good idea for helping the disadvantaged. At-risk children

always need more support, which not only includes opportunity, but

2007_11_01_archive

Ten Minutes of Your Time

Take a 10 minute break from the tyranny of the urgent and watch this

incredibly powerful video of "The Last Lecture."

Update - November 3, 2007 - The YouTube video has been removed due to

possible copyright infringement. The video is still available at

2004_03_28_rogerailes_archive

The Vision Thing

A constitutional amendment to prohibit gay men and lesbians from

marrying.

Steriod-free athletics.

A manned mission to Mars.

Subsidized broadband for the Red States.

Feel the pride.

posted by Roger | | 11:13 PM

_________________________________________________________________

Howie the Putz explains how those humorless, ungrateful military

families just can't take a joke:

I was at the Radio-TV Correspondents Dinner Wednesday when Bush did

some slide-show shtick that includes some jokes about WMDs. I

remember thinking this was pretty sensitive ground for the

president to be trodding on, but it was in the spirit of good

humor, and most people laughed. It's since become a hot talk-show

topic, with some members of military families upset about the

lightheartedness, even though Bush was poking fun at himself.

Did he poke himself hard enough to earn a Purple Heart, Howie?

posted by Roger | | 10:56 PM

_________________________________________________________________

Clowning For Cash

Clownhall.com has just completed its 2004 fundraising drive, and it

reportedly has raised $150,000 in just 13 days. From the looks of the

blood-splatered map, it looks most of that dosh was raised in the Blue

(sic) Democratic Party states. Admittedly it's easier to sell your

organs in those states, where inbreeding is less common and thus the

prices remain high.

Embarrassingly, California leads the nation in both the number of

Clownhall benefactors and the total amount raised, which is more than

1/8th of the total take.

And what does Clownhall do with its tax-deductible contributions? It

reprints insightful and articulate commentary such as this:

The times in which we're living are darker than Rob Zombie

listening to the Insane Clown Posse in Jimmy Page's dungeon... or

something like that. The fact that our current cruddy culture is

doing things that make demons blush takes no great insight for the

honest person to perceive.

Wow. That analogy is crappier than George Bush's underwear on the

morning of September 11, 2001.

posted by Roger | | 1:02 PM

_________________________________________________________________

Barnicle Mike The Bigot

Unreformed plagiarist Mike Barnicle -- bosom pal to Tim Russert, Chris

Matthews and Don Imus -- has decided that making racist jokes is less

of a career-killer than stealing the writing of others and fabricating

sources.

On his radio show last week, Barnicle referred to the interracial

marriage of former Republican Senator and Secretary of Defense William

Cohen and Cohen's wife, Janet Langhart, as "[k]ind of like

'Mandingo.'" Barnicle's defense is that he forgot the plot of the 1975

film Mandingo involved slavery and the rape of slaves. Maybe he got it

confused with The Bodyguard.

The Boston Globe points out that Barnicle pal Don Imus "refer[red] to

interracial couples as Mandingos." Strangely, the Globe doesn't

mention that Imus specifically referred to Secretary Cohen's

relationship with Ms. Langhart as "the Mandingo deal."

Should we believe Barnicle's defense? After all, this is the guy who

wrote a column filled with George Carlin jokes without crediting

Carlin, then denied having read Carlin's book until a televsion clip

surfaced showing Barnicle holding the book and endorsing it earlier in

the year. It's not hard to believe that Barnicle stole the Mandingo

insult from his pal the I-man. When you hang around bigots like Imus,

the only reasonable assumption is that you share Imus's bigoted views.

(Thanks to a reader for the tip.)

posted by Roger | | 11:59 AM

_________________________________________________________________

Are the rats deserting the sinking ship? Last Monday, we reported that

the World Journalism Institute's "May Term" journalism course had

dumped scandal-plagued Jack Kelley as a guest lecturer and added Gregg

Easterbrook to its faculty.

A week later, Easterbrook is off the lecturers list -- and so are

Freddy Barnes, Terry Eastland, Barbara Bradley Hagerty, David Cho and

Tim Goeglein. (Here's the old list.)

This seems like a bit of a bait-and-switch, dropping all the big

names, without explanation, after advertising their participation in

the course for weeks (except for Easterbrook).

And the tuition ain't cheap - $500 for three weeks' classroom

training. On the other hand, that charge does include "shared housing"

with "a complimentary USA Today." (Not complimentary of Kelley, we'd

imagine.)

Also of interest: Elements of Style is considered recommended reading

2004_06_01_archive

In the beginning...

Having done the politically-aware-graduate-student-of-the-1990's thing

(no money, but enough moral snobbery to more than make up for it), my

30's have been a series of rude shocks. Physical decline (who has time

to go to the gym with a three-year-old and a working wife?) is part of

it, but financial reality has been the real killer. I had simply taken

for granted that professors make enough to be comfortably middle class

- all the professors I'd ever seen were! Sure, they bitched about

money, but to someone pulling in a big $12k (before taxes), what did

that mean?

The Wife, bless her, had already experienced sticker shock before I

met her. She lived at home for several years after college, saving

money for a condo. The appreciation on that condo made it possible for

us to buy our house four years ago. Had she taken the route I had,

we'd be renting.

I emerged from grad school in 1997, with a real doctorate in a real

field from a real university, but with no real job. I cobbled together

the rent by teaching SAT prep courses to 14-year-old Korean kids in a

storefront operation an hour away. My hatchback's air conditioning had

gone the way of vinyl records, so I arrived home from those days a

sweaty mess. I made just enough to get by if I didn't buy much, and

nothing broke, and I didn't think about my student loan deferments

running out.

That obviously offered no future, nor was it where I wanted to be, so

I plied my trade as an adjunct at two local colleges - the respected

state university where I had just graduated, and a local for-profit

technical college. The technical college was in a growth spurt (the

internet bubble was in its early stages) and it needed Ph.D.'s to keep

the state licensing agents happy, so I was hired to full-time faculty

within a few months.

I worked there as full-time faculty for slightly over three years. It

wasn't a sweatshop, in the strict sense of the term; the air

conditioning was actually pretty good, since the computers had to be

kept cool. Still, a teaching load of 45 credits per year (15 per term,

12 months per year) with students who had gone there specifically to

avoid the liberal arts, did a number on my efforts at writing. I was

just too beat at the end of the day to think about any kind of serious

scholarship, and too impatient to get what I considered a real job at

a real college to spend very long on any one thing. For the first

time, I developed a kind of scholarly ADD. Getting lost in research

was a luxury available to people who don't have 45-hour loads.

It wasn't all bad. The growth spurt there, and the catastrophic lack

of hiring in the rest of academia, meant that I had a pretty good

cohort of young faculty colleagues. We all shared a sense of grievance

that we were reduced to working there, but at least we validated each

other as talented. I used to refer to it as The Island of Misfit Toys.

More importantly, the paycheck (such as it was) allowed me to move

into the adult world for the first time. At age 28, I was finally

paying my own freight. I was stunned at how much the tariff was -

despite earning triple what I had made in grad school, I still had to

keep a running tab in my head at Stop'n'Shop. My furniture was still

ratty and secondhand, the hatchback wasn't getting any younger, and

singlehood was starting to get a little old.

The Wife and I got married in 1999. The wedding and honeymoon were

lovely, and I gave myself permission not to obsess over their

respective costs. I moved into her condo, which was, to me,

unimaginably luxurious. It had central air! A pool! A dedicated

parking space!

The hatchback threw its mortal coil (actually, a rod) within my first

month there, so I traded up to, wonder of wonders, a new car. Always

forward-thinking, it's a four-door sedan, ready for the eventual kid.

We started house-hunting, which is probably when the trouble started.

We picked a target price out of the clear blue sky, and started

shopping with it in mind. Then we bumped it up, and bumped it up

again. I think we both saw a house as a badge - once we lived in a

real house, we would be real adults. We would have clawed our way back

to the class into which each of us was born.

Also, a one-bedroom condo isn't the best place to have a baby. We

didn't know much, but we knew that.

As I crunched numbers and we saw more places, I started to wonder how

we'd ever do it.

We finally found a newish house in an older neighborhood, well-located

relative to our jobs. We bought it, stretching our resources farther

than I knew at the time.

Without daycare costs, we could sort of do it. I was concerned, but

not overly so, because my employer had an onsite day care center that

was subsidized and, from what some other parents told me, not bad.

As the internet boom peaked, my employer decided to evict the daycare

center to make room for more computer classrooms. The daycare

shuttered the same month my son was born.

We had to look to private daycares in our area. We discovered that

most of them were unsatisfactory (if not simply awful), and yet, every

last stinkin' one of them charges the same rate. We picked the least

offensive one, and started paying $250 a week for daycare. That was

more than I had made as recently as four years earlier.

Shortly before The Boy was born, but after we had bought the house, an

administrative position opened up at my employer. I had seen that we

would be fiscally strapped when The Boy arrived, and I had finally

admitted to myself that I wasn't going to write my way out of there

while teaching 45 credits. I decided that since I couldn't teach my

way out (since teaching doesn't count in your favor after the first

year), and I couldn't write my way out, maybe I could administrate my

way out. Get that Dean title, and go on the market for deanships.

I spent a year and a half as Associate Dean there, followed by a

little over a year as Dean. I arrived at work each day at 8:45, and

left, on good days, at 6:00 (except for the one night a week I taught,

or anytime my boss felt chatty). The work was grueling, long,

frustrating, maddening, sometimes-immoral, and generally hellish.

The college was one location of a national chain, with a central

command-and-control center (Home Office) in another state. Home Office

liked to change policies on a dime, and demand immediate compliance.

Home Office's dictates frequently conflicted with the regulations in

our state, so the deans' jobs involved constructing increasingly

baroque compromises to satisfy two mutually-indifferent masters.

To make matters worse, the boom started turning south just as I got

into administration. I got to manage decline, which is much less fun

than managing growth.

I'd get home around 6:45, by which point The Boy was impossible and

The Wife at her wits' end. I was wiped, and in desperate need of

quiet; The Wife was wiped, and in desperate need of rescue; The Boy

was an infant.

Things started looking up when my manage-my-way-out strategy finally

worked. I escaped the technical college for a deanship at a community

college 45 minutes away. The pay was better, I got home much earlier,

and we were both able to calm down somewhat, since I was able to

relieve her earlier (and in a better frame of mind) than before. That,

and The Boy's maturation, lowered the daily stress level palpably.

Now, we're taking the next step. With The Girl due in another month or

so, The Wife is staying home. (We're reserving the call on whether she

goes back until her FMLA deadline hits.) The Boy is reducing his

daycare to two days per week -- the reduction will partially lower our

costs, but will still give The Wife some breathing room. When The Girl

arrives, she'll need it desperately.

Ironies abound. As the son of a divorced Mom, a card-carrying veteran

of feminist theory seminars (ovulars?), I'm the sole breadwinner with

a wife and two kids. When did this happen? How did this happen?

The cultural winds blow strong. If this were Sweden, we wouldn't have

to make some of these choices -- daycare would be highly subsidized,

parental leave would be paid, etc. Here in America, even

cultural-studies vets like me are pushed into Ward and June territory,

pretty much by default.

I'm hoping that staying home will relieve some of The Wife's sense of