Public Schools

Watched Waiting for Superman documentary last night and some facts I learned that I would just like to share...
The Teachers Association Union funds more candidates than the NRA.
There is this system of weeding out the smart and the dumb that was introduced in the 70s when most children were not going off to college...and it worked then because you find the smartest and help push them along because they were going to be your next doctors and lawyers and politicians...but today that system fails more than 50% of the children because in order to make a living today you must attend college and more than 50% of the children are not college ready by the time they graduate.
There are certain schools that the government knows more than half of the children will drop out or be sent to prison.
The average cost of an inmate for one year is $33,000 and if you times that by 4 that is still more than if you send a child to a private school for 12 years.
The charter schools came about because they are government funded but do not have to follow all government regulations that public schools must follow.
The Teachers Union has something in their contract that does not allow you to fire a teacher or take away their certificate even if you know they are a horrible teacher.  So instead of firing a teacher you must pass the teacher along to another school in something called the Lemon Dance.  So ALL these bad teachers are still teaching or should I say NOT teaching our children.  Now being a nurse I know that if I am incompetent my license can be taken away.  So why is it that we are entrusting our future into the hands of someone who is incapable of doing their job.
There is a charter school called KIPP that started in the Bronx, an area where most kids knew more people who overdosed than went on to college and this school came up with a curriculum where no child is left behind and they even increased the school hours and held school during weekends and summers in order to keep every child up to par and guess what...these kids now score BETTER on standardized tests than the rest of the other public schools in the nation...yes these same kids that were once expected to drop out and OD or go off to prison.
 The No Child Left Behind Act is coming up to its final years where 100% of the children are supposed to score average on the standardized tests and guess what..in all states it is still only at about 20%.
Americans are not qualified for the jobs in America especially the technology based ones and that is why we are hiring Non-Americans to fill those positions!!!
So people get involved in your child's education, PLEASE!!!

playing mother AND father

Where do I begin?  How about the episode that went down yesterday between boy and woman! So a little background...my son's father doesn't work, well works long enough to quit and then collect unemployment, got his car repossessed, had two AMAZING girls and screwed it up, lives in his dad's basement, smokes weed daily, plays PS3 all day long and doesnt know how to cook, clean or do his laundry.  Oh and did I mention he's 30.  So needless to say I have been battling with trying to make my son the complete opposite of his father, and thought that I was doing a great job until this football episode happened yesterday.  To me, a great parent sees their child's strengths and runs with them. My son is extremely athletic and one of those kids who it just simply comes natural to.  And if you know me at all you know he didn't get one inkling of it from me.  Hell I can't even walk a straight line or do a juming jack sober.  So thank God for that.  Anyway my son last year, all 6 years and 49lbs of him, played tackle football and looked so damn cute while doing it.  I thought he enjoyed it but unfortunately he was a rookie and couldn't start.  So this year I assumed he wanted to play this year and be the little sta,r so I signed him up.  First week of practice we were on vacation, so he missed it.  Next week he went Monday and then Tuesday rolls around and he cries his little pathetic eyes out saying he hates it, its hard and I'm the worst Mommy for making him go...get over it kid.  Then Wednesday his father was supposed to take him bc I had to go get my birthday outfit obviously for AC that weekend and the little bitch didn't go, father said he didn't want to.  Thursday I made him go and said he wasn't going to turn into a quitter and a loser and that was that.  So come Monday, oh and yes AC was off the chain that weekend and I am STILL hung over in case you were wondering, this little fairy decides to throw a hissy fit again saying he hates football and wants to quit all together.  Stuck with a dilemma.  I allow him to quit and he becomes his failure of a father or make him play and he hates ME forever.  What to do, what to do?  My thing is that I do not want him to quit just because it is hard.  I want to teach him to stick things out so he becomes proud of himself for finishing.  It's more than a sport, it teaches him teamwork and respect and devotion.  Another thing I have to take into account is that when a woman is told she is having a little boy she immediatley bestows upon him every apprehension and affliction she has towards a man and decides on that very day to raise him a certain way so that to her he will be the perfect man.  I get that and I take that into account yet just as when a woman fights with a man and the man does not do or say EXACTLY what she wanted him to, we become even more infuriated. So what am I to do if he turns out to NOT be that perfect man I envisioned 8 years ago? Do I become disappointed and resent his father or myself? Or do I accept it?  That is exactly where I am right now! To be continued......

Puppet Mommy

No secret I had a child when I was 18.  I did not know how to react to being a young mother so naturally I engrossed myself in it and only spent time with him.  I thought that was what you were supposed to do.  No one schooled me on how to not lose myself in motherhood.  I missed out on my early 20s of running wild, screwing guys (although I did my fair share in high school, hence why I had a baby at 18) fucking up, making mistakes, meeting awesome people that would teach me new things about life and just finding myself.  Instead for an entire year all I knew was breast feeding and baby talk.  I ditched my friends because how could a mother party like that, not to mention I couldn't drink unless I wanted Colin to go through alcohol withdrawl at 4 mths.  I became depressed, all the while losing who I was.  Now don't get me wrong I do not regret keeping the baby, he is the apple of my eye, but I just wished someone was there to guide me along the way.  After a year I decided to go back to college, finish my nursing degree and get the fuck out of my parents house.  Did that, done.  Still lonely.  WTF. Then Colin started to get older, he wanted to hang out with friends, the leash was being detangled little by little.  I sat back and asked myself "Who am I?" Yea I am a mother, yea I am a nurse, yea I am a sister but really who am I?  It is by far one of the simplest/hardest questions you can ask yourself and I didnt have an answer. So after that, I broke up with the baby's father and decided it was time to find me, the real me, not this facade of who I presented myself to be.  I got in contact with my friends, started doing things I enjoyed and yet I was still scared I was doing something wrong.  Why? Because society shows you that to be a good mother you stay at home, raise the children, drive a minivan with a "My child is an Honor Student at blah blah blah bumper sticker, have dinner on the table at 6:00, clean the house you pay a mortgage on, be a chauffeur and take your kids to band practice and baseball tryouts and play dates, have family vacations on the beach, knit, drink tea, wear mommy jeans, complain about not being able to lose the baby fat 15 years later, talk to neighborhood mothers about renovating your kitchen, never have sex with your husband because the kids are in the next room, and go to bed by 9:00 to get up and do it all over again tomorrow.  BORING!! I'm sorry but I just would rather sit in a bathtub of battery acid then do that day in and day out. But does that make me a bad mother? NO! That is what I have finally realized after 7 years of playing into that warped idea of what a mother should be.  So I now continue on my journey of finding myself as well as helping an incredible little boy find his place in the world as well.

Poor Snooki's Baby

I cannot resist any longer! I have to comment about the Snooki being pregnant thing. I will admit, when Jersey Shore first came out I was fist-pumping with the best of them. But now, it's kinda creepy and The Situation is 200 years too old to be hanging out and partying like that. The worst part about this is Snooki's baby stands no chance in society. Nicole, as she now likes to be called, may be growing up and maturing, but the Jersey Shore will live on forever and her child will have to deal with her behavior for the rest of his/her life. We have all made mistakes. I have made plenty...we'll just call them my college years. But my life was not broadcasted on television for millions of people to watch me hook up with some fugly dude and then fall on my face as I was doing the walk of shame (that may or may not have happened). Snooki did all that and more and I'm sure her poor child will never be taken seriously or will have to prove themselves much more than the average person. All in all, I feel bad for this baby and I hope that Snooki and her baby daddy are doing this for the right reasons and not to try and change their images.

But as bad as I feel for the baby, I cannot help but pee myself anytime I read some of these...

With love and pearls,
Ashley

The Sandlot Era

I am so happy my son's favorite movie is The Sandlot and not some hyped up, unrealistic, battle movie that most of today's kids are watching.  I wish we lived in the era of The Sandlot, when life was simplier, kids played outside, and there was little to no worry of your child getting raped and killed by people that should be shot and removed from the population ASAP.  This movie encompasses all the morals I try to teach my son in this hateful, money hungry, depressed world.  To have friends, play hard, stay loyal to those you love, laugh and make fun of yourself and others (in a cordial way).  I love the olden days and hope to embody and pass on to my son as much as I can from the fun-loving, gay impression I capture from stories and books and movies.  Long Live the good ol' days!
Peace Love and Happiness

Thanksgiving Afterthoughts

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope yours was as wonderful as mine was. To be honest, the only thing I love about Thanksgiving is hanging out with my family. I'm not a fan of turkey, sweet potatoes or anything healthy. And this year I was a little too hungover to enjoy a delicious beverage. I am one of the few lucky (or crazy as some say) people who actually enjoys family time. I love catching up with my cousins, taking ridiculous family photos (this year they had my climbing up trees) and playing games until we want more food. Plus, my birthday is right around Thanksgiving so there's always the birthday cake and presents thing.

We don't go around the table and say what each of us is thankful for but we all know that we're thankful for each other and the time that we get to share together. There are many people who cannot be with their families, don't have any family left or simply do not like their family. We don't hang out all the time or tell each other our deepest darkest secrets but we still get really excited when we know the holidays are coming around. We love and cherish each other no matter how old we get, how much we drink or how much fun we make of each other. We know we're just as lucky (or crazy) as the person stuffing their face with turkey next to us.

With love and pearls,
Ashley