Good friend = Batesy

I have had several really good friends in my life. I would say the number is less than 10. Really good friends. To earn this title they must be non-judgemental, trustworthy, honest, loyal, embrace my children (this requirement came after I had the dynamic duo), love my kids, tolerate my moodiness, be funny, down to earth, someone I feel I can confide in and not have it spread to the outer limits of the world, fun to be around, and understand that my house is ALWAYS junky. Yes.....even the new one we just moved into.

Batesy is my friend. She is sooooo funny it's criminal. She is younger than me. 27. Batesy is single, smart, and a total band, science, and math dweeb. She's the most "gangster nerd" I know. She wanted to come to my kids' math and science night at their school because well....she's a math teacher and a gigantic nerd. So instead of just hanging out with us she ended up being our transportation for the evening which included taking me to pick the twins up from school. We only have one car right now (well for about the past 3 weeks) and I was in a bind and my friend Batesy helped me out and probably drove like 50-75 miles in the total process. Not only did Batesy attend the family night she was like totally into the event and was asking questions and stuff. Remember.....she is a math/science dweeb. The twins were excited and Mookie who totally looks up to Batesy (which I don't mind because Batesy has a Master's degree in biology, owns her own d*&m house by herself, faithfully attends the 7:45 AM service at her church on Sundays, is committed to being celibate until God sends her her husband, is a dedicated professional, super smart, and totally a strong, independent Christian woman) said "it's like she's a part of our family." We had fun. And no.......Baby Wade was not there because he would have totally wrecked shop on the school. :-)

Good friends are hard to come by. And Batesy is a good friend. Some of the presenters were from the district and not my kids' campus so they didn't know me from Jane and couldn't quite figure out who were the parents (me or Batesy) or if one of the kids belonged to me and one belonged to Batesy or what. Because I live in a small town the conversational topic the next day may have been "who was the lesbian couple with the two kids?" Funny.

Thanks for helping us Batesy. Hope the pizza didn't give you the bubble guts.

A letter to the other team

This is worth a click and a read. Click here to view.

An Open Letter to Barack Obama by Alice Walker

The literary genius Alice Walker has posted a phenomenal letter to President-Elect Obama. Check it out.

Yes we did!!

My heart is bubbling over. I am so proud of the accomplishment of President-Elect Obama and proud of my fellow countrymen who voted for change and did not let prejudice overcome a wise decision. This is only the beginning. Mr. Obama has a tough road ahead and it will take time to straighten out the dire state of our country. He is the president for ALL Americans. And it's going to take the support of ALL Americans to steer this boat around. Amen!

Nina

That is Wade's name for me when he really wants my attention or I guess to be really cute. He can not say "Trina" so he says "Nina." Gosh I love him. On last Friday, a 2 year old girl choked to death on a rock at her day care. My heart seized. That could have been my Waby or the twins when they were much younger. Why was no one paying attention to that angel? Her mom and family must be grief stricken.

What's the Bottom Line?

My colleagues and I were recently posed the following question: When you put a grade on student's paper or report card, what does it really mean?

Well...I have a question I'd like to ask parents "When you send your child to school, what do you want?" The generic answer will be something to the effect of "I want my child to get a good education." It's not that simple. Acquiring a good education will take some involvement on the part of the parent and those closest to the child's inner circle of acceptable authority figures.

For a child to get a good education, the following pieces must be connected in the puzzle:

• expectations from home for the child to adhere to the rules of the school/school district
• CONSISTENT consequences (not empty threats) at home for non-compliance with those rules
• working with the child's teachers on academic struggles or successes
• sending the child to school with the necessary supplies
• letting your child know that because you want him/her to get a good education, school will be before ALL things: extracurricular participation, family outings, the child's social calendar, etc.
• a safe school environment free from hindrances such as bullying
• highly qualified teachers
• quality instruction delivered daily
• assignments that are geared to make the child not only prepared for standardized testing,but also "college and career ready"
• clear and ongoing communication between the child's parents and the school staff
• If there is a philosophical difference between parent and teacher, the child should not be a part of the discussion and the child shouldn't hear either party talking despairingly about the other

Parents, this will require work on our part as parents, but at the end of the day, if you're really serious about your child "getting a good education" this is what's needed. So.....if this is too much for you to commit to doing, why are you sending your child to school?

What's the bottom line?

Reality Check

Today I am just plain tired. There are not enough hours in the day. So many needy children. Just finished walking 3 kids to class since I held them late. Trying to give them opportunities to raise their grade. Why is it I'm more concerned with their average than them? Saw a student in the hallways looking the opposite direction from his teacher. I heard her say "I'm trying to help you, but you've got to open your mouth and speak up. What is the problem?" She was calm. Voice smooth and soothing. Why do some students clam up? She was in the hallway speaking to him away from his peers. I could see her giving it her all. Could see his mind many miles away from here. I teach him as well. He tells me he wants to do better this year. Wants to go to college.

We have to be willing to work for what we want. Last time I checked the government wasn't giving billions away to anybody that didn't own a chunk of Wall Street.