School Uniforms: Good or Bad?

As I mentioned before, Noah goes to an elementary school that requires uniforms. Was I happy about this when I found out? Not really. Did I make a huge deal about it? No. I accepted it because it is their policy. It was hard to find the required color polo shirts. It wasn't because it was some outlandish color. I just happened to register and move to the school system late.

Let me tell you what Noah wears to school. He wears a light blue or navy polo shirt and cargo shorts or cargo pants. He also has a school t-shirt he can wear. Noah would most likely wear the same cargo shorts and cargo pants regardless because those are what he likes. They aren't stuffy starched pants or shorts. He doesn't have to wear a tie, normal or bow. His uniform has never been a big deal to him. When he gets a positive referral he doesn't have to wear his uniform. Honestly I don't see what the big deal is. I am sure you have some questions running through your head.

What about self expression? Shouldn't kids be able to express themselves through clothing?
Self expression is awesome. I believe that kids should be able to express themselves whenever they can. However I don't think that school is a place to have a fashion show. Kids get picked on for wearing off brand clothing. Kids also wear clothes that are too revealing or are too short. In high schools in some areas kids wearing  gang colors are an issue. If everyone has to wear the same thing, that will possibly help eliminate it.  I personally think that kids go to school to learn not to be complimented on their keen fashion sense. How many times have you heard a child in class say hey I love your uniform? Probably none.

Aren't they just like little clones?  I don't think that they are clones. Every child is unique and just because they are required to wear their uniform it doesn't take away from who they are. What about drones? Nope they aren't drones either. They are at school to learn and learn through art and music and work to express themselves. They will have to most likely wear a uniform when they work as an adult. School is their job.

Won't they rebel? I am sure different kids rebel for different reasons. I don't really see any correlation of wearing uniforms and rebellion. I haven't heard of tons of kids rebelling because they wore uniforms. Most of us go through a rebellious stage at some point. We do it, we move on. I have a vast knowledge of crime and serial killers and I have never heard of someone running amok because they wore a uniform in school.  There is always some kind of big issue that causes them to kill.

Think back to yesteryear when you were in school? Do you remember the majority of what you wore to school? I can probably remember a several outfits from each year. I have a great memory, especially when I have photos to remind me. It doesn't matter what you wear to school, what matters is your education. No one will look at your transcript and say oh Susie  wore Abercrombie to school and Billy wore Walmart clothes so let's give the job to Susie.

Weekly Playdate with Friends

One thing I really look forward to each week is the weekly play date we have with one of Noah's friends from school. We both look forward to it for different reasons. Noah loves to go out and play with a friend and other children. He's an only child so he doesn't have the luxury of always having another child to play with.  Luckily this friend has many siblings and the park always has kids running around playing.  Noah really looks up to his friend's older sibling.

I really enjoy it because I get to talk to a grown up. Noah's friend's mom is really nice and really interesting. Both of us being first year transplants we don't know a ton of people here. Making local friends for me is a challenge since I work from home online. I have become friends with this mom. She is really a blessing to us and I am so happy to know her. She is interested in my blog too. She told me she spent hours looking at it. When she spends hours that is awesome because those are precious hours I am sure.   She is a great mom with an amazing heart.  I look forward to every week. I look at the weather and pray its not going to rain or be really cold, just so we can have the special park time with this family.

Snow Days VS. Hurricane Days

When I was growing up in central Indiana, snow days were a common thing in the winter. It was always exciting when my school was on the bottom of the screen saying closed. I learned about a snow dance in Jr. High that I still swear it works in a cold climate in winter. I remember doing it on mostly Gold days because all my favorite classes were on blue days. Always on blue days.  I am not sure how that worked out. I also had SRT on gold days which was very boring. When I was younger my favorite snow day activities were watching TV, making bread from scratch, playing outside in the snow and playing games and just relaxing. The bad thing about snow days is making them up. 

Noah doesn't have snow days, since we live in Florida. He has hurricane days.  Basically when the weather is really bad with a hurricane in our path or a tropical storm, he doesn't go to school. We had one in August. I am hoping and knocking on wood that we never have a hurricane or a tropical storm. Thankfully he doesn't have to make it up.

Kindergarten Update

Noah is half way through Kindergarten. Where has all the time gone? It seems like only yesterday he was a newborn in my arms. Time flies when you are having fun. I wanted to talk about how he's doing in school. I really like his teachers a lot and I couldn't have asked for better teachers for him. I am so happy that he is in the class he is in. The kids in his class are all really awesome too. He is blessed that he has such a great class. He is doing great in school. He reads at a second grade level. He is really good at math, very advanced and loves to learn. He is an awesome kid and I am so proud of him. He is full of questions and loves space and sea life and is really great. I feel blessed and lucky that he is my son.

College Regrets

When I was in school, I decided that I didn’t want to go to college. I wasn’t really in to school, I liked to learn but I did not like doing homework. I wish that I would have gone to college now. I plan to go to college when Noah is a little bit older. I would love to be a paralegal because I love to research people and things. I also really like learning about law. Ideally if there wasn’t 7 years of school, I would love to be a lawyer, but there is no way I would be able to handle that much time with raising my son. I remember a lot of my friends went to college and they had to take the SAT test. One of my old friends had a SAT tutor to help her prepare for the test. I would have needed some kind of tutoring because tests were not always my strong suit in certain subjects. I wonder if you are an adult, do you still have to do tests like high school students do. If I go to a college where I have to take the SAT test, I will definitely need a tutor.

I have not been in school for a long time now. I loved subjects like biology and history. I am horrible at math though. A calculator is my best friend. I hated algebra. I am still not sure what the point of it was. I can’t remember a time in my life where I did an algebraic equation, not being homework or in school. Maybe I will someday. I kind of regret not going to college but I know that I can still go at any age. There is not an age limit for college. I honestly think it was probably a good thing I am waiting. I have heard many stories of kids going to college and partying away the nights and not really getting the education they were supposed to get because they were too hung over to learn.

Did you go to college? What did you study?

Noah and I Love Playing Bingo

It has been almost a year since Noah's first Bingo game on the cruise. He still talks about wanting to play bingo and how much fun he had. He actually asks me if game shows were bingo. They had the lights and music like the games we went to.  We have seen bingo halls around that he points out. My almost six year old can read the word bingo. I am not sure how old you have to be to go to a bingo hall but if he's old enough... It's a date.  I think it would be fun to play with him again. He is a good luck charm.  He will surely bring smiles to the other player’s faces.  He gets so excited with each number called. His little face lights up.  Winning at bingo isn’t important to me, it would be great but I love to play.  I decided to Google it and there are lots of places to play bingo around me every day of the week. I guess I will have to call them and see if he can accompany me. I know that he isn’t old enough to play himself because you have to be 18 or 21 to win so, he would be there for moral support and as my good luck charm.  That way I don’t need to enlist a babysitter to watch him too.

 I haven't told him yet that he will probably play bingo in school. He has requested fish bingo and transportation bingo games.  When kids play bingo it can be a fun and educational game.  I remember playing color and shape bingo. There are even math bingos where you have to solve the math problem to know if your number was called. I had some teachers that would make their own themed bingo games for holidays. I think I will make some bingo games for Noah to practice reading and spelling words. I hope playing bingo will be another tool to help him learn.  I also hope he gets the same joy I did when I played bingo in school. 

Grown Up Bullies

I have heard a lot of talk about bullies. There have been many articles written about the subject in the past year. I know that a lot of terrible things have happened to young people that have been victims of bullying. There have been many lives lost to suicide brought on the abuse of bullies. There have been bullies actually physically committing murder and beating their victims almost to death. It is such a sad and terrible thing for children to endure and it needs to stop. I think that parents should talk to their children about being bullied and also how wrong it is to bully. Sometimes, not always, but in some instances it is learned behavior from their parents.
If you would have told me when I was younger like elementary school and in jr. high that adults could be bullies I wouldn’t of believed you. Every child has a teacher or two that they don’t like; it’s a part of life. I don’t think those teachers were bullies, I just think that I was a brat that didn’t always like to follow their directions, do the homework whatever it was and I would get in trouble.

Growing up my parents were not the type of parents that would have friends they would fight with, or any enemies. I guess I was lucky, or something. I can’t remember anytime there was “Drama” going on. It wasn’t that it was hidden from me or happened when I wasn’t paying attention, it just never happened. I know that my parents didn’t get along always, that is why they are divorced but, they would usually keep it away from my sister and me. Probably because I was a very out spoken child who would of said something. My mom has never said a negative thing about my dad, not even today. My grandma Diana would say mean things about my mom, my Grandma Rose and even me. That is a whole other blog post for another time in the future.

I was always under the impression that once you got out of school the bullying would stop, because that is not what I was accustomed to. I didn’t think that grown men and women would be that mean and cruel to others. I thought at some point people grew up and put the childish name calling behind them and the insults. I am sad and ashamed to say that I was wrong. It really makes me sick when people insult each other for the stupidest reasons. I think that any insult is uncalled for in any way or for any reason. It doesn’t matter what differences that you have, where you come from, or what the problem is. I have always thought it was better to ignore the person and walk away. If you feel threatened go to the police, otherwise make contact with that person scarce if you cannot stay away completely. No one deserves to be bullied, no matter how old you are.

I am not sure why people feel like it is ok to bully someone. I don’t really understand it. I am just really sad that it still goes on in adulthood. I am not sure if it is because they are a mean person or if they were bullied and now they are retaliating on anyone they can find. I have had toxic friends that were bullies to me. They were not physical bullies but emotional ones. I have had so called friends say horrible things to me or about me for no reason. Things would be fine and they would call me and say some ridiculous thing to me when I was mourning the loss of my Grandma Rose. I am no longer friends with those people. Really, I should have known better after receiving an email from this same person and then she had a bunch of people write awful hurtful things about me when we were in school. I should have known better. Do you ever look back in your life and think to yourself and thought that you wish you would have ended that friendship or relationship a long time ago. You wished that you never let it get to that point? I have now that I am older.

I have learned that not everyone is going to like me. That is fine, I guess, but people should be able to put their differences aside and co-exist without taking cheap shots. Besides the normal cuss words and name calling there are insults that are uncalled for. All of them are, but there are certain ones that are extra awful. I hate the R word. I hate when people use that as an insult or talk about “licking windows” or helmets. That is horrible. I am not talking about making fun of disabled people, I think most people know that is wrong, but when someone uses it as an insult. People are born different, and that is OK. We all have our challenges. Some people say it is a cultural thing to say it and that it doesn’t mean that. I disagree politely, it does. It is labeling people and saying that is not acceptable.

Another thing that a lot of grown up bullies do is bring children in to it and insult their kids. Children are innocent. They should stay out of it. Something else is throwing insults about being on assistance. Some people need help with food, medical, even cash. In a perfect world, we would all be millionaires, but this isn’t a perfect world unfortunately.

There is a saying that I am sure you all have heard many times. “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” That is a true statement and a false one. Sure words won’t leave physical bruises, but it will leave emotional bruises. Emotional bruises hurt for a long time. They are harder to forget. They don’t heal like physical ones, which fade away. I know that people sometimes say not to worry about what other people think or say but really, it does hurt. I know people are purposely trying to hurt you, why else would they do it. It is hard not to be upset or hurt. Especially if it is someone you thought was your friend. It is hard to not. It’s human to feel emotions and if someone says something about you, it hurts. Maybe I am just an emotional person. It is human nature to want to be accepted and loved.

Thar She Blows.....Chunks.......

Everyone has an embarrassing story. Embarrassing things happen to everyone. I thought I would tell you about my most embarrassing story that ever happened to me. In high school, in English class we went on a field trip to see The Miracle Worker. I went to a huge high school so there were a lot of people that went on the field trip with my class. I am pretty sure it was half of the English classes. I was fine when the play started; I am semi claustrophobic when I am around a bunch of people in a small space. Around intermission, I started feeling sick. I thought maybe it was because I was hungry so I bought a drink and a candy bar and ate it while we were waiting for the play to start again. All the sudden my head and stomach really started to hurt. I told my teacher and he told me to go talk to the nurse that came on the field trip with us. They brought a nurse in occasions like this one.

She knew me quite well out of the 4,000 or so students at my high school. I did have a habit of “being sick” during school. I liked school just not the classes. She didn’t believe me; she refused to call my mom. Seriously, if I was going to pretend to be sick I wouldn’t do it on a field trip. After all I was already out of classes for most the day. I kept telling her, I don’t feel good. I am sick. She had me lay down on a bench. I managed to make it through the play without getting sick. We had to ride the bus for 45 minutes to get back to school. As soon as the bus started moving for a while, I started vomiting. I vomited and vomited and then vomited some more all over the bus. I vomited on the nurse and another teacher. I vomited on people’s book bags that were on the ground. The bus stopped at the gas station so I could get a Kiwi Strawberry Snapple to drink to try and settle my stomach. I was also able to clean up a little bit. I am sure the bus garage hated me that day.

When we got back to the school, I went to the nurse and she called my mom. Everyone in my grade knew about the bus disaster by the end of the day. I was so embarrassed. People would ask me about it. I had it come up a couple times even after high school. I think it is funny now. You bet when the nurse saw me in her office and I said I don’t feel good she believed me.

What is your embarrassing story? Please share it with me.

I Feel Great and the Power of Positive Thinking

When I was in high school, my biology class went on a field trip. I am not still 100% sure the point of the field trip even now. I loved my biology teacher Mrs. Newman. She was an awesome teacher and I loved that class. We piled in a school bus and went to an educational building and started the workshop. I am sure you are thinking a biology field trip means looking at lab samples and learning under a microscope. This was not the case. I don’t remember the entire field trip but I do remember building things with gum drops and the speaker.

The speaker was a motivational speaker that taught us one phrase. “I feel great”. Those words mean a lot to me even now. He basically told us no matter how we are feeling when someone asks you are supposed to respond “I feel great.” If you tell others you feel great, it will make others feel good and if you keep telling yourself that you will start to feel great. It is the power of positive thinking. I will admit when I was a sophomore in high school I thought that it was kinda weird.

I mean we even got key chains shaped like a number 1 and that said I feel great as a reminder to feel great. Now being an adult I get it. You are how you feel. Only you can decide who you are and how you feel. If you feel good about yourself you will be more positive but if you are negative you will focus on negativity. It is pretty much common sense that I forget about on occasion. I am really hard on myself a lot of the time. I need to stop and remember I feel great because I am great. I know it is easier said than done but I need to try harder to feel great and through osmosis, others will feel great and I will too.

Do you have any tips or stories about positive thinking?

Here comes Bozo!!!!

I am the youngest grandchild on my mom’s side. I loved to be the center of attention. I was always dancing around and singing and putting on little plays. There is a family video of me running around my house when I am like four years old, I am yelling “Here comes Bozo” over and over again, one of the times I fall down on my face. I learned at a young age I loved to sing, I loved to dance and I loved to act. I learned shortly after that, I can’t dance. I have no rhythm at all. I took tap, ballet and dance when I was little but that was about it.

When I was in elementary school I used to sing and dance in our basement. Some of my favorites were Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. I used to sing at the top of my lungs and spin around and dance. I had a lot of fun in my old basement.

I have always loved to sing. I am not the best singer but I sing from my heart. Noah thinks I am a good singer so that is all that matters. I was in choir all during school. When I was in seventh grade I went to a singing competition. I got a first place medal singing Candle on the Water from Pete’s Dragon. I still love that movie and that song. It was fun to compete but I was so nervous. My school also competed in a school wide competition. I think my choir got first in that one too. I still have those medals somewhere. My dad wanted me to be a singer when I grew up and got me a karaoke machine for Christmas when I was in the 6th grade. I had it for a long time. I am not sure what happened to it. I enjoyed being in choir in high school as well. It was my favorite class. Now I just sing for Noah and when I am bored.

I also wanted to be an actress when I was little. I loved to act and play pretend. I loved to put on plays. My favorite place to act was at my grandparent’s house. I think it was because they loved to hear me and see me. My favorite play to put on was about the hired girl that my grandma made up. My mom enrolled me in acting classes. Two of the times I didn’t like the teachers because they were rude. One was really old and smelled really bad. I decided it wasn’t the right environment for me to be in. So, I sought learning elsewhere. I went to a acting class where we put on a play at a real theater. It was fun. It was an interesting class.

I also went to Girl Scout camp the kind that you stay for two weeks at and I did the acting camp. That was a lot of fun. We did a bunch of Broadway scenes. I was in The Sound of Music and I also had other parts that I can’t remember right now. I got to say the best line in the song It’s A Hard Knock Life. It was You’ll stay up until this dump shines like the top of the Chrysler Building. I acted in a off Broadway version of Annie. It was so much fun and so nerve wrecking at the same time. I acted in other plays too.

When I got to high school, I really wanted to take drama. I was looking forward to it for years. I got in the class and I failed to realize, I can’t act. I could act theoretically but I would be so nervous that I would just freeze. I would forget my lines or my monologue. I still to this day can only remember a few things about that class, something about my thumb and England. As much as I didn’t like acting I had lots of fun in that class. I thought about taking Drama 2 but I decided that was not a good idea so I went to my counselor for a schedule change. I was also in the Drama Club, not sure why now. Oh I know I had a huge crush on this guy when I was a freshman. He was a big actor. Really though I liked the idea of acting but not actually doing so. I did make some good friends in that class though. I didn’t do any plays in high school. I didn’t even try out. So, I never became a famous actor or singer. In case anyone was wondering.