Join Jen and the other Quicktakers over at the Conversion Diary.
1. Sorry for the light blogging this week, as the kids and I try to get into the groove of our new homeschool year. I have two high schoolers and a 4th grader this year, and getting everything done is challenging to say the least. Add to that my 10 month old granddaughter who is with us four days a week and I can say that my days are full.
2. I’ve blogged before that we no longer have our long-time math tutor, and when I learned that he would be unavailable this school year, I started to look for someone else, and I found her – a very nice Christian lady who works at a local science museum. We went for our first session of geometry and algebra 2 this past week and I brought Rosie along because I feel she’s too young to be left alone during the day.
As soon as I walked through the door, I was greeted by another homeschool mom that I have known for a few years and she let me know that her homeschool co-op was going on at the same time. She immediately invited Rosie to join in – which she did without any hesitation at all! So what was going to be just a math session for my two high schoolers ended up being an enrichment day for Rosie who had a sign language class and a music lesson too! I felt very blessed!
3. And it turns out if I can get Izzy and Rosie there every week by 8- they can take Biology and Astronomy respectively. Feeling very, very blessed!
4. I’d love for Noah to take the Biology too, but unfortunately his Latin 2 class is the same time online. If possible, I’ll have him bring his computer and see if their connection is good enough for him to do his class there and then maybe at least he can get part of this biology course done as well. We’ll see. Noah is excellent at getting his work done alone so I’m not worried about him keeping up in all of his subjects.
5. Last night we had a discussion in my kitchen with Noah, Izzy and some of their regular schooled friends about homeschoolers and socialization. Noah has told me that if he gets any invitations to anywhere, he is going to take them, because he wants to expand his circle of acquaintances and friends. Apparently the regular schooled kids started telling him about how disadvantaged he was with his socialization, but Noah disagreed.
When he first started with the cross country team, he was the odd man out. He started kind of hanging around the fringes before and after practice and inserting jokes and wise cracks into the conversation whenever he could. Now three years later, Noah has a nick name – “Noah L A” and he is greeted warmly and with enthusiasm when I drop him off.
When a new homeschooled kid joined the team this year, one of the cross country boys asked him where he went to school and he replied, “I’m homeschooled.” The cross country boy replied, “That’s cool – you’re living the hard core Noah L A life!”
6. The “hard-core Noah LA life” means that Noah was invited to participate in the Akron Marathon in a relay this year – the first year ever to be asked. Noah was thrilled. Mr. Pete was thrilled too – until they hit him up for $50 for the entrance fee last night! But he paid it and I gave Mr. Pete some cash this morning – it’s all good.
7. My favorite current hater, Jen, wants you to believe that she read on some anti-vaccination boards that someone posted that they had mumps, measles, chicken pox as a kid and that they weren’t particularly awful.
She also said that person needs to “turn in their licence to breed,” and insinuated that “someone” was stupid – because Jen is tolerant like that.
But I think she’s referring to my post in June
I wrote:
What tickles me to death though are the moms who eloquently write about how dire the childhood disease of measles, mumps, pertussis and chicken pox were – how children were at death’s door or severely disfigured by these diseases.
So I pulled these photos out of my picture box. This is a picture of me and my little sister from the early 1960s. We both got measles, mumps, and chicken pox and I’m pretty sure I also had pertussis although my mom had a different name for it at the time. I remember that distinctive cough.
When I mention that I had all of those diseases to young moms at these web sites, they either don’t believe me or they tend to think I was one of the few survivors of the plague. I assure them that not only did I survive these infections, but so did my sister, and so did every other kid we went to school with back then. (I only know of one kid who ever went to the hospital for these types of diseases and that was due to a reaction to the small pox vaccination that scarred us all for life. As anyone my age to show you that scar; it was the branding of my generation. )
Either way, I’m sure if you want to ask the graduating classes of the 1970s if they had chicken pox, measles, mumps etc., most of them did without incident and probably remember the family rituals for dealing with childhood illnesses when they went through the schools and the neighborhoods. So if she wasn’t referring to me – great! Just shows that there are plenty of us 50-somethings who made it through these illnesses just fine.
But for the record, I’m not anti vaccine – I’m pro-caution, I’m pro-informed consent, and I think we should always be good health-care consumers with whatever we put into our bodies or procedures we agree too.
It seems you were fortunate to live through childhood diseases unscathed. My mother lost a child (miscarried) through us all having the measles. I had another friend who was deaf from them.
A neighbor's dad ended up in the hospital for a pretty long time (in kid time) when he caught chicken pox from us. He had pox on his feet and unmentionable places according to my neighbor.
I had the mumps- I don't know of anyone having the complications- but the mumps were no laughing matter. I certainly would not want my grand to suffer, the way I remember, if it is preventable.
The small pox scar is small- big deal. The disease that took out entire parts of our nation's population. I am glad to have been vaccinated.
Polio was the biggie of the group just in front of me. My second year teaching was with a young woman who did not have use of her legs from Polio. My husband recently told me that one of his friends died in one of those iron lungs.
I understand being informed. The problem is that tooooo many are delaying or not giving ANY vaccines to their children. Being on the "didn't hurt me" bandwagon is something I don't think people of our age should encourage. A bit like, "I skipped going to church and it really didn't hurt me."
To each her own though.
That's a poor analogy. The vast majority of people made it through unscathed. Of all the people you have known throughout your life, you only know of three with sequela from the actual diseases. I'll bet as a teacher you know more with reactions to the vaccines, even if you weren't aware of it.
I agree that these diseases are a very big deal for adults and teens, and I don't want my kids or grandchild to suffer either – but I understand that in some instances, they can get vaccinated and still get the disease. Pertussis comes to mind.
My dad had polio. It's now eradicated in this country. For the record, I selectively vaccinate.
I just think people need to be a bit more realistic and forthcoming on both sides of the debate. The truth is 98% of the population was exposed to measles for example, and the vast majority made it through unscathed – uncomfortable and miserable for kids? Sure. But it's presented as a death sentence of the masses when it really wasn't.
When you get vaccines does the doctor tell you that no vaccinations are ever tested in double blind placebo tests?
I'm glad small pox is a thing of the past too. If you're prone to keloids that vaccine was more of a big dealy. If Small pox comes back Janette, they really don't know if folks our age would even have immunity now.
What you're saying is be informed and then get your vaccinations on the "recommended" schedule because the "experts" say so. And what I'm saying is if you are comfortable with that, fine, but if someone has misgivings or wants research that a little, or wait until their children are older, stronger and more developed, I'm fine with that as well.
I"m also totally fine if someone wants to avoid vaccinations made from the aborted fetal cell lines for ethical reasons.
I know you don't like PBS per say- but they are having a show on vaccines.
As they say, no big deal that one one or two children die of a disease- unless that child was yours. Correct?
I do consider the death of my sister to be a preventable thing in this day and age.
On the other hand, children have died and been disabled from vaccinations too – which is why the government has a vaccination damage fund.
Like I said – I'm pro-informed consent.