Mom Is Teaching

Let me first tell you that if you are a regular reader or even if you are not, I would love it if you would email me so I will have contact information for those of you have become loyal readers.  I do not know what is up for 451Press.  I am apparently one of the writers who are not locked out and obviously that could change any time.  I am however locked out of my other blogs so I figure I should make the best of what I have while I have it.  However, if the site goes down completely, you know where to find me on Mom~E~Centric or Jerri Ann Reason

Now, moving right along.  I set up a website for my son’s classroom.  I was careful not to specify the exact school and my plans are for it to be opinion free.  I will keep those here (or somewhere else if something happens to 451Press) but the new page is strictly for informational purposes.  Yes, we were told that we would be receiving a “First Grade Bible” and indeed I am going to school on Friday to help assemble these little gems. 

On top of that, the information packet along is quite lengthy but it does cover almost every situation imaginable.  With that said, hope on over there and give it a look, I”ll wait on you Legg’s 1st Grade

You’re back so soon, there’s no way you managed to read all of that.  Now come on.  So, naturally as I promised I’ll do my best to stay opinion free of there but that sure doesn’t bode well for the members of my other blogs. 

I do have to say that the fact that these 3 teachers are so organized is enough to win me over.  Loud? Yea probably so.  Mean?  I don’t think so.  Structured?  Absolutely 100% and I can’t say how much I love that.  So, with that, I wish farewell as we entered into the land of “First Grade Homework Terrors” because they are known for the large amounts of homework they give.

So, hold me, hold my hand, don’t let me cry.

Well, all the proper school supplies have been purchased including one pair of P.E. shoes to leave at school and one pair for every day wear.  The grand total comes somewhere around $135 bucks.  And, 40 of that was shoes.  So, now what?

Well, now we have been given specific instructions on what to label and what not to label.  Obviously thing like tissue and paper towels, baby wipes and hand sanitizer don’t get labeled with the child’s individual names.  But, items like notebooks, crayons, filler paper, binders, etc do require labeling.  So, instead of doing this the ol’ fashioned way because really, what’s old fashion about me?  Nothing I tell you nothing.

I received a nice gift from a man who runs Label Daddy.  I say I received but in reality, my son received this gift.  The envelope was addressed to Walker and he got a great kick out of seeing that and opening the labels.  In side he found the labels in a protect bag and a short note that read something like

“A free present because we like your mom so much.  Scott”.

Now, one might think that I am writing this post simply to push his product.  And I can easily see how that would happen.  But the fact of the matter is, that’s not the case.  Yes, I adore the labels and I adore them so much that I purchased some for our family months ago.  And, Scott has been generous in giveaways and the such on my blogs. 

While at Blogher I was looking through the Expo booths and I hear a man’s voice say, “Ahhh Jerri Ann, we know you” and I turned to see Scott from Label Daddy.  We chatted up about a 2 minute conversation (even then folks were pushing us to get by) and we parted. 

We have some of these labels that we used on baseball gear and quite comically people acted amused.  Most of the kids gear was either not labeled at all (which was a major pain) or it was labeled with a black permanent marker.  So, before I started collecting supplies and marking all over them, I went for more labels…because I am not old fashion and that’s just how I roll. 

Fun times ahead…

I’m still wondering if I can get some of you, homeschooling parents to tell me what “Back to School” means to you.  I have at least one homeschooling parent who is going to guest post and I would love to have more.  And, if your child goes to public or private school, wears uniforms or has to buy a long list of supplies or simply just boards the bus on the first day, tell me what “Back to School” means to you as well.

I’m looking for tips to make the process smoother.  I”m looking for ideas on how to manage bedtimes, wake up times, books, supplies, lunches, curriculums, teachers, administrators, program heads, group learning…all of that.  This is a good time to share all of your fresh ideas so that maybe someone else can pick up something that might work.

Being a newbie at the whole back to school thing, we have done it only once, I’m going to share a couple of things I heard in a chat last night about starting back to school.  Here’s what some of those folks said they did…and of course, your lucky, you get my commentary too.

1.  Start at least a week early prepping kids for earlier bedtime and wake-up.  (We started that tonight, had intentions of starting on Sunday night but the boys begged my mom into one more night each at her house and then last night was just a lost cause.)

2.  Take a “First Day of School” photo every year in the same place and compare your child’s growth.  We did take a photo last year and I plan to take one this year as well.  I think most folks will be stunned at the growth.

3.  Make breakfast on the first day of school a meal-out.  (I have considered this and many parents in my area do this during standardized testing week just so they know their kids are getting a better breakfast that what they normally prepare.)

4.  Make the night before or the first night of school dinner a special one.  Either let the child choose a place or the meal itself that’s going to be served at home. (This sounds cool and we will probably do this one).

5.  School supplies, I’ve covered ad nauseum. 

So, this is obviously a list for those of us prepping for back to school out of the home somewhere and that’s why I am asking you, my readers, to share a post telling me about your routine.  I know there are some folks out there with insight on this (Luke, that’s you dude, come on out of hiding and write me a post on what back to school meant to you as a homeschooled student).  And, anyone else, really, I am so very curious.

Here is a link to the Crayola Facebook site if anyone is interested. And here is a link to a coupon and some prizes that Crayola are giving away.  And here is a link to the coupon that you can print out.

By the way, this is not a post sponsored by Crayola, I was just part of the chat last night and had the good fortune to learn about the coupon and thought it was worth passing on.  Just FYI there in this crazy world of blogging. 

I certainly am not writing this to brag.  If anything I am hoping to garner some of your trust that I am doing the right thing.  In the past 2 years, I’ve gone from blog-bubble to blog-bubble and adding a blog any and every time someone asked me to do so. 

I wrote about this in depth on my here but for now, I’m going to attempt to give you the quick and dirty version.

1.  I currently author the following blogs:

Jerri Ann Reason

Jerri Ann

Mom~E~Centric

Mom is Teaching

Media Critiques

Mental-Emotional Health

Life in Reality

Michelle Obama Watch

Don’t Eat That 

 

2.  I currently hold domains for the following

Gadget Magnet

Education Uncensored

3.  I currently am launching a group project with other bloggers known as Blogalogues.  We hope to launch no later than 2 weeks from tomorrow. The site is up and functional, just without content.  I will serve as the administrator for that site and handle any anonymous posting and the Blogalogue Awards.

4.  I plan to take over the school’s e-newsletter as soon as we get all of our ducks in a row with matters of privacy and such.

5.  I write paid posts for 3 companies on 3 different blogs.

6.  I write paid reviews, non-paid reviews (reviews where I receive a product and then give the same product away) and I host numerous contests.

7.  I’ve attended the following conferences this year:

January – The Social Networking Conference

February – Blissdom 

March – Mom 2.0 Summit

May – Florida Conference for Women and Atlanta Mixer by Mashable

July – Blogher

8.  I hope to secures sponsorships for the following upcoming conferences:

Type A Mom

IZEAfest

Blog World Expo

9.  I do published work as a Virtual Assistant.

I’m sure there’s more, I’m linking to the thorough post.  But, here’s a recap of sorts of what’s coming up soon.

1.  I will continue to write my personal blog, Mom~E~Centric, do reviews and contests on that blog and bother people with aimless chatter about how great my kids are.  I will continue to be on Twitter as The_Jerri_Ann

2.  I will be dedicating more time to my TV Boyfriends blog.  It has been good to me and I’ve made some awesome connections through that blog (of which I plan to use soon).

3.  I hope to dedicate more time to this blog, learn more about education my own children, homeschool, public and private educations and the readers here in general.

4.  I plan to get Bloglalogues off of the ground and running and bridge some gaps, education some others and plunge forward.

5.  As soon as I am given the all clear from my physician, I am going to start the EASports 30 Day Challenge.  I also have a plan in action (if it doesn’t fall through) to use that blog and join forces with a celebrity/celebrity blogger in the fight against Childhood Obesity.

6.  I will be using that hard earned education that I have to teach Beginning Blogging and Introduction to Social Media via vlogging, youtube and ebooks.  In addition to that, I will be moving from writer for the company that I do Virtual Assistant work for to Instructor for Social Media. 

Remember, if you get lost, you can always go to the media site, Jerri Ann Reason, and find all my published works, my Blog Talk Radio shows, my works dating back to 2001 as well as the most recent interviews from Blogher. 

So, with that, sit tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite.

I am preparing to go to Blogher.  And, so much prep time has been put into the parties, the clothes, the swag, how to get there, where to sleep, who to see..it has become so over-whelming that I find myself just wanting to say, ok never mind, I’m going with no plan at all.  I’m going and I’m just going to do whatever the person next to me is doing. 

Put honestly, I know that’s not reality either.  So, I figure I’ll write it all here, the post my stay up and it may not, you may see it one day and not the next, but the final line is, I am stressed.  Please realize that I am doing my best to cope with a tinge of humor here so don’t go getting offended and acting crazy because I really am about to write some crazy shit.

Ok, first and foremost, I have a to-do list a mile long.  But, that’s been the case for months on end now.  I catch myself repeating to my kids that “when I get finished with this…..we will play….” and that time never comes.  So, knowing that I am going to be gone away from my kids, my husband and my mother for a full week is hurting my heart.  It’s heavy.  I want to spend every minute between now and the time I leave with them.  I don’t want to worry about all this other stuff.  But, this other stuff?  The other stuff is the reason I am going to the conference in the first place.  So, I can’t just shove it aside. 

So, in order to cope, I’m making a list of things that need/must/will/might get done.  You may not be able to even understand what my little notations mean but I do and hopefully, if I can get it all out on paper, I’ll quit running the streets looking for Michael Jackson’s doctor and asking for some anesthesia.

So it started last night.  I had to pack up the clothes that I intend to wear next Thursday night through Monday.  I packed it in a box and I mailed it to the hotel in which I will be staying.  I also had to figure out what I was traveling in (has to be business casual simply due to the nature in which I acquired my ticket) and that meant shoes and night clothes, underclothes.  All that planning last night so I could mail via UPS to the hotel I am staying at from Thurs thru Monday. 

Now, I am packing a carry on bag with the clothes that I am wearing on Wed night to dinner and Thursday to the Ford Test Drive in a carry on bag because that night I will be staying at a different hotel. 

Are you following me?  So, I will drive to Atlanta on Monday or Tuesday, don’t know for sure yet, sleep and fly out of there.  The rest of this is just all mish mash of stuff I need/want to do and I am just not sure about how much time there will be….but here goes:

• Frigidaire has a team delivering my Washer and Dryer on Saturday.  That’s great, except my laundry room is disgusting and has to be cleaned up before any strangers get near this place.
• I am giving my old washer and dryer to a needy family and we have to get them out of the laundry room so that my cousin can pick them up and deliver them.
• Buy groceries so that my mom and husband and children won’t go hungry while I am gone.
• Organize my email account – right now I have 185 labels and it’s just mass chaos, need organization and structure to survive. 
• Group Blog – the launch day has come, Saturday, today, and it doesn’t appear that it is all well and good and ready.  I”m trying though
• My broken re-paired and not broken leg is giving me fits after being on it today, it puts me in fear of all the fun at Blogher
• I need to get the advertising up on the Group Blog site as well all of it’s subdomains
• I need to get the logo up on the main Group Blog  page and all the subdomains
• I need to put the logo on all the out-going newsletters
• I need to email the code for the button to all the authors
• I want to set up twitads on my twitted account
• I need to buy 2 bags of mixed chocolate bars
• I need to figure out if I am going to Atlanta on Monday or Tuesday and where I am sleeping when I do go. 
• I am getting a manicure & pedicure before I go and possibly a little tan.  Must do tan part on Monday so I can use discount code….so would like to keep on to Atlanta that day, but who knows.
• Email authors of Group Blog about various things like joining in the advertising campaign at Blogher
• Request suggestions from Group Blog authors about advertising stuff
• Figure out if I am staying in Atlanta on the 27th or if I am coming home (probably coming home because my gut hurts.already from missing them)
• Work on the blog that I have been assigned in my virtual assistants position, write posts, comment, work through commenting and bookmarking
• Make sure all the camera batteries are charged
• Make sure the phone battery is charged
• Make sure the Peek battery is charged
• Make sure the mp3 player is charged
• Make sure I pack all the chargers for these gadgets
• Make sure I get cables to hook gadgets to laptop
• Pack as efficiently as possible but be sure to include all cables, clothes, gadgets, etc.
• Write 3 articles for one of my paying blogs.
• Write 8 articles for another paying blog
• Write 13 articles for another paying blog
• Write 13 articles for another paying blog
• Write 7 articles for a semi-paying blog
• Write 3 articles for a semi-paying blog

Did I mention sleeping?  Or the actual drive to Atlanta or the actual flying time, or the obsessing over how to get from airport to hotel, or how to get from one hotel to the next, or how to get to the airport and be on a flight on Monday the 27th at an ungodly hour of 5:40, or the flight time back to Atlanta or the drive home from Atlanta or the missing of my babies omg did I tell you how much I miss my babes already?

Ok I know, I could have done some of this instead of making this horrible list but I didn’t.  I wrote the list.  I am about to do one thing on the list and then I am going to snuggle with my babies.  I’m making no promises how much will get done that doesn’t have to be done for me to actually survive because hello…eating and bathing aren’t on that list anywhere either, oooops!

Yes, my kids are aggravating and agitating to ne another on occasion but I am quick to tell peoplel (who usually notice it first) that my boys are extremely close to one another.  My husband and I are both only children so we don’t really understand the whole issue of Sibling-Love but we see it every day.

Yes, “he took my toy” or “he is looking at me” but more often than not, they are very very loving of one another.   my mother has taken to letting the boys spend the night with her one at a time with a few days in between.  And, which ever kid is at mom’s always calls before bedtime to tell the other child that they love them. 

Even when they come to get their PJ’s, they have to hug and kiss on one another as much or more than they do either Wayne or myself.  Imagine that? 

And, the one that is home always asks if he can call and tell the other one that it is bedtime and not to forget that they love him.  It’s absolutely heart wrenching and watching my kids grow up is so doggone painful for me. 

But the love these guys share is absolutely unimaginable to me.  Having nothing to use as a reference, my husband and I just look at one another and I see that the love in our eyes for one another, the love in our eyes for our children is quickly carrying over to the love our kids have for one another.  Sweet sweet boys.

Ok, so continuing right along where I left off, I’m sure that punch I pulled at the end was totally a surprise for most of you?  Am I right?

If you are a coach, you have to know you are a teacher.  You have more opportunities as an athletic coach to teach a child or a group of children about more things that just the sport at hand.  Without a doubt, baseball (softball for me) is about the laws of physics in a major way.  Kids can learn that from pitching, throwing, hitting and catching.  You all know that when you carry out the skills of the game, your body is turned, stretched and contorted in many ways. 

So, you, out there, coaching our youth, don’t forget to teach the kids to be good sports but don’t let those teaching moments that include academics.  Teach them why they have to move in a certain way to make a certain action.  Aha, an anatomy lesson is learned.  Teaching them how to watch a player and tell by their stance how they are going to swing a bat, or shoot a ball.  Teaching them that bat speed is the most important tool to hitting and teach them why.  Teach them pitching is the most technical lesson of physics, anatomy and more.

And, you know what, teach them the importance of listening.  I was talking with my cousin’s wife and she said that her son was pitching and he hurt his shoulder.  It wouldn’t get well and luckily they saw an orthopedic doctor and they followed her instructions.  Teach a child how to take care of themselves by doing what a doctor says to improve your health.  The ortho told them that his shoulder was NOT going to get well until he quit pitching.  And, he became an outfielder that day.  He tried to play shortstop but that involved quite a bit of throwing as well, so he now plays centerfield and first base. 

If children are taught all these great lessons as soon as they start participating in sports, many other life skills will fall into place.  Like what you ask?  Like dedication, understanding and empathy.  When my cousin’s son was still pitching he accidentally hit a batter and broke his nose.  His mother said he was heartbroken and made a friend with this kid because he was concerned for his health.

Ok, stepping down….maybe…

I feel the need to throw you for another loop.  I’ve talked mostly about baseball because that happens to be what I’m good at, but check this out…

I have talked many times about education in general.  I’ve mentioned by thoughts on homework, voiced my frustrations with reading and even take a long hard look at whether I will one day feel comfortable enough to homeschool my kids so we can travel alot.

But, I don’t think I’ve ever discussed teaching physical education other than to say that schools need true physical education classes and not recess.  The idea of recess is deceptive.  But, since I have the floor and I was confronted with an opportunity to teach tonight….I have to share.

I’ve made no bones about my insecurities about homeschooling.  But, I do have the ability to teach a lot of things…stay with me here.

When I taught physical education, my classes were organized, they involved fitness, they involved free play, they involved team games, individual games, recreational games and more.  I took my job seriously.  I also coached.  And I took that job serious as well.  And, since I was working mostly with girls in the 13 to 15 year old range, it was sometimes extremely challenging.

Tonight I received a compliment from a former athlete.  The compliment came via her parent but the mother told me that her daughter said she learned more about the game and more physical skills than any other coach they had ever played for. 

That made me smile because I truly gave my all when I coached and sometimes I didn’t feel like I was making any headway.  Anyway…my head swelled just a weeee bit.

So tonight I carried my kids to watch my cousin’s son who is 9 play in the state tournament.  And, I had the opportunity to exercise my brain on more than one occasion.  My cousin was working toward his degree in physical education and the fact that he asked my opinion was enough that it was amazing that my head even fit back in our car for the drive home. 

So, there, just so you all know that I m not a complete insecure nutjob trying to parent my kids.  But, don’t think I am one of the diehard coaches who believes in working small children to the core. But, if my children are going to participate in athletics, I want them to learn proper techniques in warming-up, as well as how to control their body so that un-necessary injuries do not occur.  And, I want them to learn to be good sports.  And, at 9, being a good sport is a big deal, running a close race with learning proper warm-up techniques and mastering skills properly. 

I have more but this is long and boring now.  I”ll talk about it again another day…just wanted to toot my own horn around here for a change.

And, for those of you who think that coaching is all about fitness, athletics, and physical skills….take a look at this physics lesson that any coach anywhere has the opportunity to teach to their athletes..

Ok, so back to where I was headed yesterday when I was led so seriously astray,  And honestly, I’ve had to think long and hard to remember what it was.  But, indeed, I do know now.

When we get the books that Walker cannot read well, he and I end up in a teary-eyed scuffle over me trying to teach him to sound out the words.  He will almost always burst into tears when I won’t tell him the word and sometimes he will even cry if I let Jace go ahead and pick out a book that he knows he can’t read completely.

And, my dad and I had those same verbal, teary-eyed scuffles when I would ask for his help.  Obviously I don’t remember to read but I do remember having tons of math issues.  I took every math offered at our school in 4 years.  That meant that for 3 years, I saw the same math teacher twice a day for a class.

But, if I made it home and couldn’t recall the way to do something, my dad and I would go in circles battling.  The first year that computer science was taught in our school system my dad taught it at his school.  I took it at my school.  It was the first time I ever had a C and the exchange between my dad and I over the difficulty of the class was unbelievable.

So, when Luke asked me why I thought I wasn’t cut out for homeschooling, I sited those tear-striken battles that we have regularly over simply learning to read.  So, I said all that to ask you, the readers these questions….

If you homeschool, do you routinely have these battles that end in heaps of tears on both the parent and the student?

If you don’t homeschool but you attempt your child in a subject that they are having difficulties with, does it end in 2 people in a heap on the floor crying?

Please tell me I am not the only one.  Luke asked me again why I thought I couldn’t homeschool and obviously a lot of reasons but I do have a plan.  I have lofty goals but if I can make them come true, I will most definitely be taking my kids on the road and homeschooling.

What exactly does that mean?  It means that if I can make enough money blogging, my husband can quit his job because he is making money consulting, then we will pull our kids out of school and travel.  The biggest part of my education that was poor was the things that I could have learned by seeing and touching instead of just reading about them in a book.

So, for all of you wondering if I have considered it?  Absolutely I have considered it.  Will it happen, hopefully within the next 5 years?  Is it something that I think is too lofty of  goal?  Yea maybe. 

And, then, I really worry about those combative study times like the ones we have now and the ones I grew up having with my father.

Does this happen to you?

See, neither of these two people are crying…humf

The time has come that the oldest child is reading extremely well and he is teaching the 4 year old way too much.  The days of spelling words to communicate in our house among the adults is no longer an option. 

We can spell out some of the most difficult words and even as we tried to discuss a little issue with my little boys discovering their “private parts”, we tried to talk in circles.  The more we tired, the harder we laughed.  And, the more we laughed, the more agitated the boys became.  We were howling in laughter, trying to continue to speak in code and the kids were getting even more and more disgusted because we wouldn’t tell them what we were laughing about.

So, anyway, I told you all that to say, the time has come that my oldest son has to be given a heart to heart conversation regarding his private parts.  And, he is only six.  And for my husband and I to spell information to try to communicate so that they can’t crash our plans or for us to communicate to make this go as smoothly as possible has become extremely difficult.

So, it’s going to be sad when we have to have the sex talk with our children and we are going to be forced to do it like it is a text message sent to a friend.  For example:

“u cannot play with ur winkie in front of otheres” or “please do not play with yourself in my prescence”.  Yea, that could get really confusing eh?

I’m not sure how much I was influenced as a teenager by peer pressure but I am sure it is much more than I am willing to admit.  Honestly, I do recall a couple of things that seemed to be of poor taste that I totally went with the crowd on.  One of those was the Pollo shirts in all variety of loud colors and tennis shoes.

I had attended a really small school where no one really paid attention to fashion at all up through the 8th grade.  But, when I transferred to the new school in the 9th grade…it was all about the trends and Pollo Shirts, layered at that and Nike Tennis Shoes were all the rage.

So, where does that land me now? 

I am a bit of a conformist I admit.  But, at the same time, I still like to think I am well adjusted and doing my own thing.  I’m not sure how true that is as I can’t think of any good examples to use to plead my case in one direction or another. 

I do know that I was an outsider where my child’s education was concerned.  No one else seemed concerned with the candy treats or the field trips to the zoo in another state that was snatched away and turned into a field trip to…the bowling alley.  But, I as with the group regarding the trip to the Alabama Ballet and the traveling with 1 adult to 15 children.  There was obviously more people unwilling to allow their children to go or they wouldn’t have cancelled.

So…

Just from what you know about me here, what do you thing?  Conformist?  Rebel?

So, it’s a huge debate around the internet world.  Nature or Nurture.  How do you parent?  According to this article, the apple rarely tumbles too far from the tree, it is also true that there are a multitude of things parents can do to safeguard their children.

How do we guard them from the most dangerous elements? 

How do we go about raising healthy and happy children?

I’m going to just give you the tips from the article, you can go read the discussion with each on your own.  I certainly do not want to be accused of copying someone and I want to give credit where credit is due, but these are just too good not to share. 

Unfortunately for you guys, they come with my commentary from the peanut gallery.

1. Let your child know you are excited to see them when they enter the room. (is that not the case with anyone?  I mean, I can see where it is of major importance with children, but in my opinion, it’s just a natural and polite thing to do, but hey, what do I know?)
2. Teach your child it’s okay to be bored (by all means, please….my mother plays 900 games of Go Fish a day.  I have a cast on my foot and right now, she is caring for my kids way more than I really would have ever dreamed I would have allowed, but I’m kind of in between a rock and a hard place – I am in a cast and immobile and have been since January – but anyway, my kids do not know how to be bored and they have to learn AND SOON!)
3. Limit your child’s media.  (by all means please.  I remember watching the news after 911, that’s how I equate this because the way I see it, it was tough really tough on me with all that being shoved at me, and for a child, the same would be the case with a few news stories a week, overwhelming and could be very saddening)
4. Let your child make a few of the rules. (I read the full discussion and all I am going to say on this one is – agreed)
5. Teach your child - don’t assume it’s all happening outside the house.  (This one is the one that I hoped to bring to this blog……homeschooling is ever parents job, regardless of whether thy attend public or private school or they are homeschooled, parents have to learn to take the responsibility for educating their children AGAIN.  I say again because I think it was a big deal many years ago but with the advancement of our society, people quit parenting as much as their parents did.  Why?  I really don’t know but I know that it happened.)
6. Model appropriate behavior. (Yes, please)

Ok, so anyway, I was watching the ABC segment about teenage pregnancy.  And, here I have to insert some more history…

Side Bar – I rarely ever cry anymore.  I don’t mean for this to see like I am pointing fingers but….I simply don’t cry.  And for those of you who don’t read my Mental and Emotional Health blog, I have a therapist, a psychiatrist and I suffer from depression.  At this point, I am apparently severely numbed by life.  Because we don’t let our kids watch grown up tv, we dvr our crime shows and other that The View, that’s about all we watch.  Still no crying.  I couldn’t tell you the last time I cried at a funeral. 

So, with that, tonight I was watching the segment ABC on teenage pregnancy.  The young girls on the show, or one girl in particular, had a set of twins.  She had agreed to give the babies up for adoption.  They showed her in the hospital and holding her babies.  It was painful.  The young girl was crying, holding her babies, talking to the adopting parents.

I burst into tears as she handed one baby to the adopting mother and she handed that baby to the adopting father and then the birth mother handed the adopting mother the other baby.  Oh the tears.  I had one of my kids in my lap scratching his back and the other lying on the sofa beside me an I was…scratching his back as well. 

I realize that I am not a very good parent.  I realized I haven’t really ever understood much about my own parents.  I also realized that those teenagers make a very difficult decision. 

And, so I kept crying.

My computer is giving me fits, I’ve lost several posts lately so cut me some slack if this one is a bit like you are getting shafted.  I don’t mean to be brutal, but…but, when I have to re-write posts, I get short winded…aha imagine that?  Me?  Short on words?  Never!

Ok so what I was trying to tell you earlier was that tonight, on ABC, there was a segment on teenagers and sex.  And, apparently I was very naive to what the real world looks like for teenagers.  Everyone thought my dad was too lenient but honestly, I gave him no reason to not trust me.  I only know of one person that had a baby in high school.  That’s every person to come through that school in my four years so in my opinion that’s a lot of people, right?

Well, apparently, teenagers are having a lot more sex than I realized.  Yes, teenagers in my circle were having sex.  One of my favorite teachers told me this one time, “the bad girls never get pregnant, they know how to prevent it, it’s the good girls that get pregnant”.

That stuck with me and I wondered where I fit in that puzzle because I was a good girl and I wasn’t pregnant in high school.  My group of friends were considered the good crowd and none of them got pregnant either.  So, that brings me to teenagers and sex. 

Am I delusional?

Anyway, I’m about to make this a 2 part post because…well you had to have the history so, stay tuned…….Part two….tomorrow…