Earth Day

Update - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch - (it exists and it's horrifying to think about) has been made into a character in its own graphic novel - http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/04/26/im-not-a-plastic-bag-great-pacific-garbage-patch-preview-archaia-graphic-novel-rachel-hope-allison/

I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.  Regardless, bringing people to awareness of it can't be too bad.   On and on it goes....


Happy Earth Day!


I know being green can be a pain, but here are some numbers that will hopefully convince you to do a little more than what you're currently doing.


First, here's a couple of links to give you some info - http://www.learner.org/interactives/garbage/solidwaste.html


http://recyclingfacts.org


I drive GQ a little  A LOT crazy with my compulsive recycling, but it makes me crazy to think of how much stuff goes into the trash that doesn't have to go into the trash. 


I mean, like, really crazy. Like,  I could obsess over it and probably cause my hair to turn completely gray and give me ulcers.


Again, I realize that it takes effort, and I'm not one to talk about doing things that take effort.  I've discussed my shortfalls here - http://1bub.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-i-write-and-why-i-dont.html.

But this is something that I can't ignore.  Back when I was teaching 5th grade we would watch this movie called, Garbage - The Movie,  which is different than the movie that's out now with a similar or the same name.  I don't think I could watch the new one b/c it'd probably give me a panic attack.


http://youtu.be/6J5rDx6g9ts


Anyhoo, the movie I'm talking about focused on a garbage barge that couldn't find anyone to take its garbage.  It literally motors around from place to place getting rejected. And it just goes from there.


I just learned last weekend while leading R's Girl Scout troop in an environmental lesson about a floating collection of trash that is the size of Texas that is in the ocean.  Read that again, never mind, here -  THE SIZE OF TEXAS FLOATING IN THE OCEAN. And that's just one of many.


So, please, if you don't recycle, if you don't try to reduce the amount of trash that you're putting into the garbage, if you don't think about these things, please start.  Even just a little. Start small. 


Plastic bottles and aluminum cans are probably the easiest things to start with.  If you live in DeKalb County the curbside recycling is really easy and quite affordable.   Here's the link - http://www.co.dekalb.ga.us/publicwrks/sanitation/san_Residential_Curbside_Recycle.html

Okay, I've got to go do some stuff.  So,  Happy Earth Day!

A Day in the Life

Fire Drill!!!!
Working in a school I see all kinds of behavior that makes me shake my head, grit my teeth, and raise my voice.  All three of those happened yesterday from the same situation.  It's something that in my 15+ years in the classroom I've never experienced.


Our school has periodic fire drills.  I'm sure you're familiar with those; either from your memories of being in school, tales from your kids, or being in one yourself.  We do this so in the event of an actual emergency we can exit the building quickly and safely, and with children those things take practice.




If you've ever been in an elementary school you know the reaction of kids when a fire alarm goes off.  It looks like this - 

24 first grade faces turn to me with this expression, plus five surprised third graders that had come in early from Wiggle Time (aka recess aka State Mandated 15 - 20 minutes of unstructured, uninterrupted free play).


"All right, guys, come with me, get in line, and follow these 3rd graders." I tell them, because that's what you say in these situations.


I look back over the classroom to make sure they're all filing out as orderly as possible when I see a kid still doing his computer activity.


In the midst of chairs being scooted out, 24 little people asking, "Is there really a fire?" and "How come these always happen when we're in Computer Lab?" This kid is still doing his math games.  Oblivious to everything going on around him.


I shout this child's name, causing him to literally jump in the air at least two inches.


"GET OVER HERE, AND GET IN LINE!"


He comes over, glancing back over his shoulder at his computer.


GLANCING BACK OVER HIS SHOULDER AT HIS COMPUTER!!!!!


Seriously, in all the time that I've been in a classroom leading kids outside during a fire drill, I've never seen this.  I've had kids scream.  I've had kids take it completely like a joke.  I've had kids talk the entire time, adjusting the volume of their voice to fit the volume of the alarm.  But this?  Nope. And it was from a 1st grader!


I spoke last week about my own lack of discipline.  I suppose if I had the discipline this student was showing toward finishing 1st Grade Math - Base Ten Activities then I wouldn't have near the troubles that I find myself having.

Why I Write and Why I Don't

I've had this blog for several years now, and while there's nothing spectacular about it, it does fulfill something that I need.  A place for me to put it all out there. All the junk that's up in me head.  I've always done this, but until the Internet made it possible for us all to put our inane thoughts out there in cyberspace forever, I did it in notebooks.  Lots of notebooks. 


Unfortunately, not lots of filled up notebooks.  Lots of partially filled notebooks.


Of course there are some things I write about that are just interesting to me and hopefully to some of you. 


I am somewhat steadfastly holding onto the thought that although I only have 6 people following this blog on blogger, other people read it, despite the fact that the comments don't back up this belief.


Some of you may find it odd that I need a place to "put it all out there" because to some of you that is how I live my life.  But it's not always so.


I get a lot of stuff stuck in my head that doesn't make it out.  There are various reasons for this, but sometimes it's doubt.  Sometimes it's because something else comes up that needs my attention. A lot of times it's forgetfulness; a LOT of times.


There are two blogs that I read regularly, http://succumbingtomyawesomeness.wordpress.com/ & http://www.gradydoctor.com/ and I am really in awe of the writers' ability to do it as regularly as they do.  Of course there are millions - probably literally millions - of blogs out there to be read, and we all have so much to say. So much important stuff to say.


The problem is, for me at least, is that I find it easier to say by pushing these little keys than I do by speaking the words. 


I've thought about this before and I've talked about it with friends and family. Why it's easier to do all this mind spilling all by myself instead of in front of a person.  It's all in there. It's not as if there's a different compartment in me head for speaking aloud and typing.


Now, the thing is, you could take me at almost any time and put me in front of a group of people and I'd be able to take off talking a mile a minute about all kinds of garbage - both meaningful and meaningless. But I get a little stymied when it comes to one on one conversation.  And this troubles me.


So, to get to the topic of the title, why I write is because I have all this stuff up in me head, and if I don't get it out it gets all cluttered.  My head that is. The words, too, get cluttered.  The problem ties into the second part of the title.


Why I don't.  


I've recently come to recognize that discipline isn't something that I have in surplus, and to be very honest, I'd be in the Discipline Debtor's Prison if there was such a place.


I could come up with all kinds of excuses, but it all comes back to lack of discipline.  This is not a very uplifting epiphany to have.


I realize that it should be a clarion call to me to get to it.  Realizing this and taking the necessary action to do it are very different things.  


Caution - Tangent Ahead


I'm going to enter some risky territory here.  It's not surprising territory, but risky.  I am a cocky person.  My belt buckle and t-shirt prove it.  

I can do all manner of things that many people can't.  I really can. I am thankful for these talents, and I could list those things, but the world doesn't need the amount of barf that this may induce from some... What the hell is your point here, Man?


WE NOW RETURN YOU TO THE MAIN IDEA 


My point is that I can do all kinds of things that many people can't, but I can only do them adequately.  What keeps me from doing them really good well? Lack of discipline.


I know that GQ has some things to say about this, but she has very graciously chosen to keep them to herself until I ask her about them.  (I know that sarcasm flows through my words in the same abundance as oxygen in the air we breathe, but I am very sincere when I say "graciously" there.)


It disturbs and disappoints me that I know this, but I haven't done anything about it.  Just do it! Yes, I know this.  I do.  It's much easier to say it than do it.


However, I am making little strides toward doing it.  I am.  Some people don't see it.  Others haven't noticed that it's there.  That's okay.  I know I have, and I really want to continue.  There are some distractions that I have to recognize and put down more often, and I'm going to try to do that.  


So, hopefully you'll see more of my thoughts here in the coming days.  I've got a whole slew of ideas up there that I've been percolating. I just hope they haven't gone bad.


-------------------------------
My soundtrack while this was going from head to screen 

• First Breath After Coma 
• All In My Mind
• She Loves You
• I Ran (yes, that one)
• That Thing You Do
• Chapter 2 of The Seeing Stone from the Spiderwick Chronicles
• MLK
• Why Should I Be Nice to You?

Music is such an important constant.  It helps tremendously in many situations.  I need to remember this.


Peace & Love y'all.

Desensitization Procedure, Part I

So we watched Captain America – The First Avenger with The Girls this weekend. I can’t say that it went over all that great.  Well, not with R at least.  Coco was pretty good with it except for the kissing, and when a bunch of soldiers were getting ZAPPED into oblivion by the Cosmic Cube-powered guns. It was more the kissing though (“tell me when it’s over). 

R, on the other hand was in serious distress. Serious. Distress. Head covered by blanket, hands over ears, trembling body. I am not exaggerating at all.  She was terrified.

GQ and I were kind of expecting this; although steps had been taken to head off this reaction. We had already seen the movie and agreed that it didn’t cross any lines we were concerned about with scary monsters, sex or violence.  Our plan was to use Captain America as a tool to start desensitizing her to some of the stuff she’s scared of.  The list of these things is really too numerous to mention here. GQ and I talk about this fairly often b/c R regularly freaks herself out.

GQ talked to her about the movie earlier in the day. She showed her pics of The Red Skull and talked about some of the things she’d see; hoping to prepare her a little before the actual viewing of the movie. Yeah, that didn’t work.

She got herself worked up about it before it even started. By the time Johann Schmidt pulls his face off to reveal the Red Skull beneath, she was well past the I’m-Freaking-Out-Here stage. This did not play out the way we hoped. 

See, the idea of talking to her before the movie was supposed to prevent us from having to talk to her about all the stuff after the movie.  We have experienced this countless times after countless movies. “I just can’t get (any character, scene, sound, thought from a movie) out of my head.”  I had already had my Parenting Fail of 2009 when R was in 2^nd grade and I agreed, against my better judgment, to allow her to watch an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer at a sleepover. The sleepover didn’t happen; I was summoned to get her around 10:30. 4^th grade should be better, right? We almost didn’t make it through Captain America at all.  She had worked herself up into such a state that we had to pause several times and talk her down off her ledge. She was so upset once it was over that she couldn’t even form the words to tell us what had upset her the most.

How did we get here? Have we sheltered her too much? Should we have been exposing her to more frightening things at an earlier age? I can’t say that we should have been exposing her to more, but maybe we, or really I, should have not encouraged her fantasy world as much as I typically do.  Then again, [full disclosure ahead – get your judging hat on] perhaps the episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BTVS Again!!!) or Angel she saw between the ages of 0 – 3 warped her a little…

It wasn’t until early in 3^rd grade that R realized that cartoons weren’t reality-based. I admit I enjoyed her thinking these thoughts. Maybe it was delaying her growing up.  I really don’t, but now I’m second guessing my decisions.

See, working in a school I get to see some kids who are growing up really fast; kids who are jaded before they’re 10 years old.  That makes me sad. All kinds of sad because being a kid should be great. I know there are horrible things that a lot of kids have to deal with on a daily basis. I do know this. I’m not a Pollyanna that thinks everything is happy and carefree, but for the most part being a kid should be a time filled with joy and wonder, and from my vantage point when you take that away from kids, or maybe when you don’t protect them from losing that at an early age you’re letting part of them go that won’t ever come back. That’s terribly sad to me.  All the junk that kids are going to have to face when they get out of elementary school is staggering as it is. So I guess I am sheltering my Girls. 

What’s the solution then? Do we keep exposing her to things, but in a controlled setting? Do we let her explore on her own under a watchful eye?  I guess it’s what we started the other night with Captain America. I know that we can’t let her go blindly into it all. It’s irresponsible and honestly, R would probably not explore too much on her own.  She’s quite happy to just watch Fat Albert and old Lassie episodes on the PBJ channel.  We will continue to gradually introduce her to more books and movies, talking to her about these, helping her understand that they’re not all real, and talking to her more when they are based on reality. And the reality of the situation is that there are so many real things that are equally, or even more terrifying.  These things we can’t just close the book, turn off, or wake her up from a nightmare.  If she can’t handle imaginary things I am worried about how she’ll respond to real travesties.

It turns out what freaked her out so badly was the actual war scenes.  She is terrified of war.  That’s better than it could be. That’s a rational fear.  She’s reacting to it irrationally, but again, she comes by that naturally. We’re already crafting the letter to excuse her from Social Studies for the rest of her academic career.  So, before sending her and Coco off to bed with visions of explosions and destruction, we watched the trailer for The Lorax and the soon to be released Ice Age sequel – “Holy CRAB!!”  Of course we did try to watch The Avengers trailer with them also. Luckily, it was just a little 10 second teaser.

Do you hear that sound?  You know what it is? It’s me blowing my Parent of the Year horn. You might want to cover your ears.

You Tube Comments...

So, seriously...what the hell is wrong the majority of people that leave comments on You Tube?


I mean, I guess I know there's the whole Troll thing that goes on all over the Internet, but  I mean really.  REALLY.  What goes on in these people's heads?


I don't know that I've ever come across a video on You Tube and not been assaulted by the racist, misogynistic, hateful comments that are completely irrelevant to the video post.


Why do you keep looking at the comments, you moron?


I hear you.  I do.  Sometimes the first comment is something related to the video, and foolishly I hope for a continued thread of discussion.  I don't think this has ever happened for more than 3 comments in a row.


You know what?  Maybe I'm just jealous b/c I rarely have any comments, and I just want to pretend that people are going to comment on one of my writings. 


Gah.  Now I've got to go look at some fuzzy cute animal pictures to clear my mind of that hateful crap.


Oooo...this is pretty good - (you'll thank me for it, or mercilessly mock me for it.  Regardless, chances are pretty much in my favor that you won't do it on this site)  http://www.acuteaday.com/blog/category/sleepy-animals-2/

Dear Daylight Savings Time,

I know you think you're doing everybody a big favor by giving us more daylight, and it's true. Yes, it's true.  Thank you.  Please, don't misinterpret my meaning here.  You know there's a big "but" coming here (and I'm not talking about the kind Sir Mix-a-Lot digs).


But here's the thing DST.  You come on a Saturday night at, what? 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning? So people that have been out late having a good time have to struggle to get up to go to church (if they do that), maybe get up to go to they gym, or go get a bagel or crossiandwich.  


Whatever you do when you get up, most people  have a hard time getting up and going the next day.  And you know what?  The day after is even worse.  


Seriously.  A  Monday the day after we lose an hour of sleep?   Come on, DST. You can't honestly sit there and tell me that you wonder why some people get hostile about you.   Why some people won't even recognize your existence. Aloha, Hawaii.


"Spring Forward!" my arse.  You know what happens when you spring someone forward, DST?  Do you?  Typically they fall right on their face.  Fall back, and it's more likely that someone will catch you.


So, here's what I propose.   Let's keep this thing going.  I like the idea of having more daylight.  I do.  I like for it to be light in the summer so the Girls can stay and play later.  I like getting home from work after 6:00 and it's still not dark. Please, don't get the wrong idea. I like you.  You're okay in my book.  You've just got to plan your entrance a little better.


Instead of Saturday night, why don't you try coming Friday night?  


I hear you.  Nobody likes early arrivers, you say.  Not true.  It's not. Listen to people talk.  


I wish Friday would get here sooner.
I wish it was Summer already.
I wish my birthday was today.


Lots of people like things to arrive early. Lots.


What's to lose? You show up early, people are a little grumpy Saturday morning.  By Sunday almost everyone has their clocks set right, and they're running late giving whoever it is that's waiting on them the Grin & Shrug - "Daylight Savings Time messed me up".  They're not taking the blame themselves.  They're throwing you under the bus.


So what do you say?  Why not give it a try?  Try it out, walk around in it for a couple of years, and if it doesn't work out, well, we'll see about switching back then.


Don't give me an answer right now.  Think on it. You've practically got a whole year to think about it.  But I can tell you like the idea.  I can tell.

Best. Drawing. EVER!!!

Coco may be experiencing her first Manic burst tonight.  She got a new haircut that she was pretty freaked out about at first, but apparently had some kind of crack-infused hair tonic or something.


After dinner she told me her teacher told her to draw a flying mustache.  I told her that sounded like an awesome idea.  A few minutes later she came downstairs to ask me to draw, "a half sun, some clouds and a flying mustache."


...


"Aren't you supposed to draw the flying mustache?" I ask.
"Well, I'm not very good at drawing them," she told me.


So, after figuring out that "a half sun" is a sun that is not all the way on the page, but is kind of taking up one corner of the page, I drew said sun, two fluffy clouds, "oooh, you're good at that!", and a handlebar mustache floating in the air.


As she was leaving I told her, "You know, mustaches aren't just shapes like that.  They're a whole bunch of hairs all going in one direction that make up a shape of a mustache."  Then I showed her a little example, and beyond all of my expectation, she came up with a good looking flying mustache.  Along with some other items you may have noticed.

• The Pigeon (from the Mo Willems series)
• An ice cream truck with a little kid getting his ice cream from the Ice Cream Man
• a can of Coca Cola, and I don't know if you can tell, but there's a picture of a guy holding a coke can on the can, and on that can is a picture of a guy holding a coke can... (we had that conversation.  I may have prompted it, but she took it and RAN)
• A dog on top of the coke can.  It's dancing.
• An alien baby.
• A baby elephant alien (me - where are its ears? Coco - those lines on its head are the ears. me - oh, right.
• A rocket ship. I must admit that was my idea when she asked, what else should I draw? me - a plane? Coco - ... me - a rocket ship? Coco - AWESOME!!!
• A flying bird
• A multi-colored, polka dotted Panda Bear (R may have come up with that one, actually.  She may have even drawn it, but if so it's an uncredited appearance.)

Right, so this drawing, along with the house she created for her new neighbor, Fred, the albino rubber ducky, ("he's going to live right next to me!!!") seems to have all come from the same source of creative energy that is still surging through the house right now. Here's Fred - 

A little bit about Fred's house, if you'll indulge me.  It's an old gift box that's probably leftover from when GQ and I had our Yellow Dog Folk Art gift store (that's another story from a long time ago).  She's decorated it and came to me to ask me to cut the door so Fred could go inside. We had to make some adjustments b/c Fred is actually bigger than you'd think.  So, after door cutting her final request was for a mail slot ("so I can leave him messages!" there are a lot of exclamation marks being thrown around the Benefield House tonight). Mail slot cut ("it can also be a window!!!")


So, this drawing.  "The Best I've EVER Drawn!!!" will hopefully make it's way to the Morning News at our beloved school.  Our school has a live daily news broadcast where a drawing is showcased during Opening Music, The Moment of Silence, and Closing Music.  Good stuff.


My fear of course is the crash that comes after a Manic burst.  We'll see.  Tomorrow will be here before I know it.