Another Hurdle Jumped - First Parent Teacher Conference

Another first . We had R’s first Parent/Teachers conferences today. I’d say it was a success. Overall, R is doing really, really well in her first year of Pre-School. She’s still 3 (granted, almost 4, but 3 yrs. 11 mo.) and on the Kindergarten assessment test she placed at 5yrs 4 mo. academically. I’d say that means she doing quite well.

Socially she still needs to be in Pre-School, but considering that this school year was the first time she’s really been in an environment where she’s had to interact with many different children for any extended period of time, she’s matured by leaps and bounds. The first few months of Pre-School were difficult for her (not to mention her teacher and her parents). They were full of time-outs and e-mails from the teacher. Her teacher did say that the last few months have been really good for R in that respect.

She also said that R likes to be in charge. If we use that to our advantage by making her the line leader or classroom helper, it really works to our benefit. J and I have noticed that at home as well. She responds much better if we ask her to help us achieve something rather than telling her to do something.

She’s competitive. She likes to be first and she likes to be right. (wonder where she gets that from??) She’s eager to answer the questions the teacher asks of the whole class, but needs to be reminded from time to time to let the other kids have a shot too. (although the teacher did say that 99% of the time she had the correct answer)

The most amusing part of the conference was part of the Kindergarten Assessment that asked her to draw a “Man”. They get 4 points for any of the items on the list that were present. Here’s a photo of R’s “Man”


When the teacher asked her what the thing was between the torso and the legs, her reply (in a whisper, shhh it’s a secret tone) was. “Those are his bottom parts. It’s where he sits.” I think that should have gotten her 4 more points under the "Other" category.

Looks like we have ourselves “One Smart Little Cookie”.

-A

Political post - Public School vs. Private School

Let me preface this post by saying it’s not my intention to make this a political blog. This blog is supposed to be about our family with updates, events and stories that we want to share with friends and family. With that in mind, I’m about to step up on my soapbox for a brief moment.

I received and e-mail from a friend yesterday telling of a new bill that is going before committee that could potentially have an impact on my family. Before we get into the specifics of the bill, I need to preface this with: I am in no way saying that public schools are inferior to private schools. I am a product of the Omaha Public School system and I feel that I was provided with good opportunities to learn and excel. In my family, both immediate and extended, are many educators that have taught for many years in public school systems in this state. I have nothing but respect for teachers and administrators who strive to provide children with the best education possible every day. My hat goes off to them. With that being said, J and I have been strongly considering private school for R. I will admit that the primary reason is because we don’t like the public elementary school in our neighborhood. I’m not saying that this school has poor teachers or administration, but I believe the kids that attend this school have uninvolved and uninterested parents. Who, in my opinion, and lack of actual knowledge probably use school as a cheap babysitter. Why do I feel this way? Try standing in my front yard anytime during the school year around 3:00 when school is dismissed and observe the kids walking home from this school. They are destructive, lack respect for themselves, others and properties. They use foul language and have a complete disregard for anyone or anything. This is not a group of children I want my daughter to sit in class with for 6-8 hours a day, nor do I want her to walk home within range of any of the kids I have had the opportunity to observe. Now again, I’m not accusing every student from this school to be this way. I’m sure there are some from good families that know how to behave and speak properly. Let me say also that I’m not trying to be one of those moms that over-shelter their children either. Our desire to have R attend a private school, specifically Omaha Christian Academy doesn’t even have to do with the “Christian” environment (although admittedly that is an added bonus), it’s for the moral character of the staff and students she’s exposed to every day.

My logic partly lies in this theory: when the parents are directly involved in the educational environment of their children, the children are more likely to succeed throughout their educational years. Parents who enroll their children in private schools have a financial investment in that education. And let’s face it. Money talks.

Now I know that if R were in Public school, I would be involved with her education. That’s the type of parent I am. J is the same way. We would talk to her and her teacher when and if we spotted any problems, before they got out of hand. We’d help her with her homework, insist on a consistent bedtime, send her to school with the appropriate supplies, make sure she’s had breakfast, etc. Basically provide her with all the tools we can to be successful in school. But that’s J and me. The problem lies in the parents of other Public School kids that don’t and won’t do those things for their children. Those children are most likely going to be the ones with discipline issues that will take the teachers attention and time away from teaching the rest of the classroom full of children that actually want to learn. Teachers spend more time disciplining kids than they do teaching anymore.

We parents need to step it up a notch. We need to realize that these teachers are not babysitters. School is not free day care. Parents need to get involved and stay involved.

With that all being said. Here is the political portion of my post. This is the e-mail I received. I urge any of you reading to contact the members of this committee and ask them to support this bill. If it will help me with part of all of the financial commitment that I make to send my child to a private school, I’m for it. I’m also very happy to continue to pay my fair share of taxes to support the public school system. I’d just like parents who would like to choose private school over public school to have a little bit of an incentive to do so, without the worries of being able to afford the tuition.

Legislative Bill 67

Legislative Bill 67 will be up for vote by the Revenue Committee soon; information about the bill is stated below. This bill would have a positive impact on Christian education. Please pray that this bill will pass. The Revenue Committee will hold a public meeting on Friday, February 27 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 1524 of the State Capitol. If you
would like to attend the hearing and are interested in carpooling to Lincoln to attend, please contact the office and we will try to arrange a carpool system.

LB 67, the Elementary and Secondary Educational Opportunities
Act, would allow Nebraska individuals, married couples, and businesses to receive a state income tax credit for contributions to School Tuition
Organizations (or Scholarship Tuition Organizations) to assist children in enrolling at private elementary and secondary schools in Nebraska. An income tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in tax liability, as opposed to the treatment of a tax deduction, which only reduces tax liability by a percentage of the amount contributed. The goal of this bill is to provide scholarships to help defray the cost of private school tuition for students whose families have low or limited income and to provide an incentive to families and businesses to encourage charitable giving to nonprofit School Tuition Organizations, creating a new revenue stream with additional scholarship resources. These scholarship tax credit programs have been very successful
in Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Florida, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. Your help is needed to cause favorable treatment for LB 67 and its advancement to the full Legislature for debate.

Here is what you can do:1. Call or e-mail members of the Revenue Committee and urge them to support LB 67 and advance LB 67 to General File for debate. The Committee controls the fate of the bill
at this stage, so contact these senators even if they are not from your
district. (If you would prefer to write a letter; using regular mail, that
is fine, but act soon!)Revenue Committee members, district #, phone numbers, e-mail and mailing addresses:

Abbie Cornett (45) acornett@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2615
M.L. "Cap" Dierks (40) mdierks@leg.ne.gov, 402-471-2801
Greg Adams (24) gadams@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2756
Mike Friend (10) mfriend@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2718
Galen Hadley (37) ghadley@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2726
LeRoy Louden (49) llouden@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2725
Dennis Utter (33) dutter@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2712

Tom White (8) twhite@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2722

Senator ______, District #____, State Capitol; Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509-46042.

Spread the word about LB 67 to other members of your school community and request that they also call or e-mail the senators on the Revenue Committee and urge them to support and advance LB 67.3. Senator Mike Friend (10) of Omaha introduced LB 67. He is a member of the Revenue Committee. In contacting Senator Friend, please thank him for sponsoring LB 67. Sen. Tony Fulton (29) of Lincoln is a co-sponsor of this bill. If you live in Senator Fulton's District (29), thank him for sponsoring this bill and let him know his efforts are appreciated. Please see the guidelines enclosed with suggested talking points for using in your message. Thank you!

For more information, please contact:Jeremy P. Murphy, Associate Director for Education Issues Nebraska Catholic Conference215 Centennial Mall South, Ste. 310Lincoln, NE 68508

(402) 477-7517JeremyMurphy@neb.rr.comwww.nebcathcon.org

Thanks again for your time. I am now stepping down from my soap-box.

-A

"Any Day Now" - not what I wanted to hear

Well, it's Tuesday. Which means we had another OB check up today. Today's report is I'm 3cm dilated and still 50% effaced. When I asked the Dr. this time if I had at least another week to go she simply smiled and said "Any day now." I said no, that's not the answer I was looking for. Can you at least tell me if I'll make it into March? That's only 5 more days. To which she smiled and said, "Any day now."

On a side note, my blood pressure was still in a good range, so she won't be inducing me at the moment. I'm still supposed to continue to monitor it on my own. If I get a high reading and am unable to get it back down on my own, I'm supposed to call. I'm assuming that means they'll look into inducing labor at that time, but this at least buys me a little more time. I mean really, all I really want to do is get into March. Is 5 days too much to ask?

Baby's heartbeat was strong and consistent with the last few readings with his heartbeat in the 140's (that's beats per minute) She's estimating his weight to be just over 7 lbs at this point. R was 7lbs 2 oz at the time of her birth (10 days before her due date) if you'd like to use that as a reference. This one isn't officially due until March 18th. He's going to be bigger than his sister.

I think I'm going to put myself on bed rest. I really want another March baby. I'm off to my happy place now. Talk to you all later.

-A

Pregnancy update

Well, we’re down to the last few weeks of this pregnancy, and overall, things have been going pretty well. I’ll admit that this one has been harder on me than R was. Not sure if it’s because it’s my 2nd pregnancy or if it’s because this one is a boy or if it’s because I’m 4 years older this time around or a combination of all-of-the-above.

The morning sickness was worse this time than with R. I still never missed a day of work because of it, and never actually threw up, but I was a lot more nauseous this time around than the first.

Around 20 weeks or so, I developed a lot of pelvic pain. My Dr. and Chiropractor both told me it was normal for a 2nd pregnancy, due to the pelvic floor muscles already being stretched out, and the baby sitting lower in my belly. Ok, great. The pain made anything requiring me to lift my legs up difficult. Putting on pants or socks, going up stairs, getting in and out of vehicles, things I need to do every day. But we’ve pushed through all of that and I’m still getting where I need to be (and fully dressed at that!).

I’ve been a little nicer to myself this time around as well. When I was pregnant with R, I was bound and determined not to let the pregnancy interfere with anything I wanted to do. It was like I needed to prove to the world and to myself that I could be pregnant and still do everything I wanted to do. This time, since I know it’s my last, I’m kind of sitting back and enjoying my “condition”. I’m taking it easy. I’m listening to my body. As a result, my blood pressure has been lower (not by much, but enough) my blood sugars are lower (enough that I passed the glucose screening and didn’t have to do the dreaded 4 hour glucose screening test that makes you feel like a human pin-cushion) I’ve been getting regular chiropractic treatments (really makes my back and hips feel much better) I’ve also been going for regular pregnancy massages every couple of weeks. Let me tell you, those totally rock! They have these special pregnancy massage tables that have a big hole in the middle so as to not put pressure on the expanding belly. They also have little holes for the breasts so you can lie on your stomach and not have your chest parts squished up under your chin. Fabulous invention.

J has also been doing his part. He’s settling into his role as “Super Dad” quite nicely. R is realizing he can do more and more for her everyday, so the pressure is off of Mom to perform up to her usual standards, and Daddy can do things like make dinner, give baths, read stories and play video games. This was something we thought would be good to get going before the new little one arrives and mom’s attention will be occupied with the needs of the littlest one. Mom is still available to rock in the chair and do “fingernails” with R whenever necessary though. That’s not something either of us was willing to give up.

At my last OB appointment on Tuesday, Feb 17th I was 2 cm dilated and about 50% effaced. If you don’t know what that means, Google can be your friend. Dr. B said that I should most definitely make it through the rest of February, but probably not all the way to my due date of March 18th. My goal has simply been to get to March 1st and then I’m fine with any time after that. Just as long as this little guy joins the rest of his family with a birth date sometime in the month of March, this mom will be happy.

We’ll try to keep you updated on our/my progress.

They have started a baby pool at my office. Selling days for $1 each. If more than one person wants the same day, the tie-breaker is the baby’s weight. So far all but 2 days between Feb 23 – March 20th are taken. Let me know if you want in on the fun. We’ll put in your name as well.

Take care!
-A

Behold, the Power of Cheese....I mean E-Mail

It’s amazing how technology can help or hinder today’s parent. In this example, technology was a help, or at least it has the potential to be. Here’s our latest experience.

I went to pick up R from the sitters the other evening after work. When I got there, she was her usual self. So to get her attention, I told her that I got an e-mail from her teacher that day. All of a sudden she got really quiet and serious. She looked at me and asked, “Did she say I’ve been good?” She said this in a really quiet and hesitant tone. She sounded very uncertain – which for those of you that know R, is unusual. Knowing that my conversation with her teacher was actually about setting up a time slot for parent teacher conferences, but with a mention of what a joy R is to have in class, I told her that actually her teacher says she has been good lately.

With that, she pepped up again and was the same R, alive and full of energy.

The next day she had school and J went to pick her up. He got the daily report from the teacher, which was good. As soon as R heard the teacher tell J that she had a good day, R turned around and hollered back to the teacher “Make sure you e-mail my mommy and tell her!”

Perhaps knowing that mommy has the potential to interact with the teacher via e-mail is a good thing. We’ll see how things go from here.

-A