Why The Blog Is Going Private

Someone asked me this week why I've decided to make our family blog accessible only to my closest friends and family. I realize that in this day and age, nothing is really private anymore. But I want to make sure that I can share pictures of the girls, and stories about us without just anyone being able to stumble across this information. We live in a large community; we are not listed in the phone book. Still, I am concerned about our girls' safety, and making the blog private is one more way, in my opinion, that I can keep them away from potential hurt and harm. I am not always good about just using their initials, or not mentioning where we live, and I think that trying to be private in such a public venue stifles my creativity and, I feel, makes my entries more impersonal. Also, some of my good friends have a link to my blog from theirs, and while I don't mind this in the least, it is very easy for anyone to jump from one blog to another whether or not they know anyone on the blogroll.

So this is why I've made the decision to privatize the blog. Thank you for respecting this, and for continuing to follow along with us. I really enjoy having a place to share pictures and record memories without the pressure (and cost!) of scrapbooking and journaling. Also, since the blog is now "by invitation only", I have changed the settings for comments to allow anyone to leave a comment. So if you want to say hello, (or say how cute and wonderful my children are!) please feel free to do so without having to create an account.

Come and visit often. I will do my best to keep the pictures and commentary as up-to-date as possible!

The School Board and Superintendent Are The Ones Who Should Be Schooled

I normally don't write about current events and/or politics on this blog. But after reading this article from the Tacoma News Tribune, I feel the need to say something about it.

Basically, the article explains that 4 of our middle schools have performed so poorly on the WASL (our state's student assessment test, like the CTBS, or the ITBS) over the last few years that one is being closed, two are changing their curriculum and their principals and 50% of their staff. This is so that Tacoma School District can receive federal education funding to make some drastic changes and get these students performing better on the WASL.

Here's why firing principals and replacing teachers and changing curriculum won't work: because the student demographic will remain THE SAME. You can have the best teachers and administrators in the world of education working with students that come from low-income families and neighborhoods, but those students will always underperform because being successful in school is not very high on their (or their parents') priority list.

Why is it that when people go to college they trade their common sense for a few letters after their names? Don't they learn about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs? I know I did in college. What Maslow figured out (and it doesn't take much thought), is that we all have basic needs, and when any one of those basic needs is unmet, not only can we not progress and reach our full potential, in some cases, our bodies cannot function properly.

So here we have a child who, because of whatever circumstances, only gets the food that the school serves. There's no food at home. The power is turned off because the money for the bill got smoked up, and there's no hot water to get clean in the morning or have clean clothes for school. This same child consistently doesn't get enough sleep, and may not even sleep in the same place every night, let alone have a bed of his or her own. "Mom" is in and out of jail, or prostituting herself for drug or alcohol money, and "Dad", if the child even knows who his or her biological father is, is serving a life sentence, or has babies all over town with countless other women, or is always drugged out or drunk. I don't even want to go into the abuse issue. It's too hard to think about.

Does this sound extreme? It does if that's not what you come from. But we have kids in this city, kids in this country, for whom this is normal, every day life. Take a look at all the needs that must be filled BEFORE a child can even possibly do well in school:

• breathing
• food and water
• sleep
• homeostasis
• security of body, morality, property, health, and family
• friendship and family (love and belonging)
• self-esteem
• confidence
• achievement
• respect of others
• respect by others

That's a lot of needs to be met in order to attain:

• morality
• creativity
• spontaneity
• problem solving
• lack of prejudice
• acceptance of facts

So why does anyone think that by trading out teachers and administrators, and closing a school (which, by the way, has a very high number of kids from impoverished homes AND a very high number of special education students--most of whom don't take the WASL (and the school takes a '0' score), or the SpEd students take the WASL but fail it, dragging down the school's total score) that they will be able to make academic change for the better? These students will still be coming to school from difficult situations. It's hard to focus on schoolwork and test preparation when you're not sure if you're going to a foster home at any time, or if one or both of your parents will be stoned or angry and itching to fight when you get home.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that throwing more money into something that already doesn't work isn't going to solve the problem. It's like having a toaster that doesn't heat up and figuring that if you just keep putting bread into the slots, EVENTUALLY you should get toast, right? No, because that's just stupid. Until you have parents who are functional and healthy themselves who are motivated to better their situation and take an interest in educating themselves and their children, we will continue to have students who underperform in school and grow up to be the same dysfunctional, criminal, and abusive people as their parents and we will continue to pay for them to stay on welfare and food stamps and government health care.

Does anyone else see the insanity in all of this?

A Few Random Pictures

I don't feel like writing much of anything today, but I wanted to post these pictures of my three beauties. Enjoy!

Silly Girl

This is a series of photos I took a week or so ago.

I've titled it

"Sadie w/ Fork"

Please scroll down for Lucy's birthday post!

Happy Birthday, Lucy!

On February 19th, 2004 at 11:34 pm, I became a mother. It's hard to believe that six years have passed since then! Our little Lucy, who was born two weeks earlier than we expected, has truly been a joy. We've had some tough times and some strange phases, but looking back, these last six years have been a breeze. Lucy is a sweet girl who is creative, intelligent, and helpful, and our family would definitely not be the same without her.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Lucy!

Sorry, Wrong Number?

This morning, the phone rang, and when I answered it, the woman on the line said, "Mrs. Ellis? This is the secretary at Franklin Elementary. I just want to verify that Lucy is absent from school today."

To which I replied (while trying to keep the panic out of my voice), "No, she should be there. I dropped her off before the first bell, and watched her walk into the building before I drove away."

She said she would go and check to see that Lucy was in her classroom. While I was waiting, my mind was conjuring up every possible horrible scenario. She called back a few minutes later, explaining that Lucy WAS in the classroom, but it was the student whose name is just above Lucy's on the attendance sheet that is actually absent today. That was the only scenario I never even thought of.

Yes, I really am that paranoid.

Happy Birthday To Me!

In a few short hours, it will be my birthday. I am turning 32. 32, 32, 32... Where have all the years gone? When I was not quite a teenager, I had a conversation with my brother, Erik, about how old we would be in the year 2000. At that time, being 22 seemed so strange and far away. And tomorrow, I will be one decade beyond what I thought was so far away. In fact, I am closer to 40 than I am to 22...

There's just one thing to do when one comes to this sort of realization. I'm going to bed.

Let Me Begin By Saying:

I LOVE THIS GIRL!

She is funny, intelligent, sweet, helpful, loving, insightful, beautiful, zany, and just about the coolest kid I have ever known. She is a ball of energy and excitement. She has a keen sense of right and wrong. She lives in the moment. She's spunky and plucky. In the words of a family friend, "Amy is a survivor."

But Amy is also an enigma. I have really struggled to understand who she is and struggled even more to figure out how to work with her. I'm still not really sure. Every day brings new challenges, and I feel like I am always behind the 8-ball when it comes to parenting her. Just when I get something figured out, the game changes and I've got to figure out how to play all over again.

That's why, when the day gets tough, I remind myself of those four words at the top of my post.

Say "Aaaah"...Now Spit!

David and I took all three girls to the dentist yesterday. When we walked into the office and saw the people in the waiting room it became obvious very quickly that it was a low-income place. When I mentioned this to David afterward, he said, "Well, that would explain why we were there!" Hey, if you can't laugh at your crappy situation, that's when you know you need therapy.

Anywho, I'm happy to announce that Lucy, Amy, and Sadie have great teeth and no cavities! They all sat very still for the dentist--even Sadie! She opened up nice and big to show off her cute little pearly whites.

More soon...and some new pictures too!