Epiphany of the day

I have been chastised for not keeping up on my blog.  It is apparently an unwritten rule (or at least unknown to me) that you are suppose to blog on a regular basis.  Apparently this means every day.  This is unlikely to happen.  With rare exception there are too many other things that command my immediate attention.

Naturally some of these involve sanity maintenance, and given the need to alievate stress, I take them.

Some people feel a cold beer will suffice, others need to burn energy.  Sanity maintenance for me falls into several different categories.  For general well being, exercise is the only way.   My preference is combining some serious pain and sweat with that "I'm going to die" thrill.   An orthopedic surgeon once told me I was an adrenalin junky.  It's a possibility..   There are certainly many ways to get exercise that don't involve the possibility of an unexpected trip to the ER, but they just don't have the same appeal.

Ignoring the previous rant on common sense, I would have to say that although I'm old enough to know better, I am still young enough (at least mentally) not to care.   Given that I don't heal as quickly as I use to, this may not be the most prudent view to hold. (One I'm reasonably sure that my children may question)  For me one effective stress reliever involves mountain biking.  This is one of my favorite, and once you have the equipment, cheapest/fastest ways to relax.   Now I'm also in favor of slalom skiing, but to really, really get the work out you have to ski a course (and of course boat and lake).  Unfortunately for us there is no permanent course on our lake.  To put up and again take down our portable course requires a fair amount of time when it is just my husband and I, which always seems to be in short supply.  And the group we use to ski with has gotten smaller and smaller lately for a variety of reasons.

It's sad, but it is getting harder and harder to find people to play with.

Which leads me to the epiphany of the day.  If there is one thing in your life that you never give up, make sure it is your ability to play.   Most people get older and find "playing" not a grown up enough occupation.   How many adults do you know that would never consider going out and playing hide and seek or gray ghost?    Or perhaps an easier question is how many do you know that would.  I think when people think that they are to old to engage in that type of behavior, then they are old.   Don't let it happen to you.

Common sense not so common

                I am not an economist, nor is my IQ 160, but I have always thought that most of the problems that face us could be solved with the application of a little COMMON sense.  This is what troubles me about the current political climate in Michigan.  It seems to me that common sense is not being applied to our policies being put into effect.  Now granted I could be blinded by my own opinion, so if a glaringly obvious problem presents itself with my opinion, please be sure to point it out because at this time I am just not seeing it.

               I have recently put a LOT of time and effort into following not only a dream of mine, but into something I feel will have a positive impact on a lot of other people.  It is for this reason that I am particularly troubled by the cuts and proposed cuts to our educational systems.  These include not only the K-12 cuts, but also the cuts at the college level.  Now here is my reasoning on this, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

               When we cut funding at the K-12 level the end result is teachers will get laid off, staff will be reassigned to positions that have been cut (possibly areas that they are not as strong in) and class sizes will increase.  The best and the brightest of teachers will not be hired (remember you get what you pay for) and individual students in each class will not get as much one on one time as they did previously. Those that need extra help will have to be able to arrange times other than the class period to get it.  This brings up a whole new set of problems with parent scheduling pick-ups and availability of instructors after or before school.  Additionally with school cuts, new instructional material will not be available and regular school supplies (paper etc.) may be in short supply.

( I recall when I was in school that the texts in several of my classes were not exactly up to date, but of course as an all knowing High School-er, what did I care about other countries their problems and even if they were still countries. I did however find it a detriment when I entered college and didn’t know much about Europe and the rest of the world.)  Other classes will be cut entirely leaving fewer options for kids to pursue. It seems to me that everyone I know is concerned that his or her children get a good education; so that they can as a result get a good job.  How is this going to happen if we keep putting more kids into classrooms so that teachers have less time to help individuals, then not provide the teachers with up-to-date materials to teach with?   

               Another problem I see is the No Child Left Behind Act, and linking teacher performance to student achievement.  The idea behind No Child is great, but it just doesn’t pan out in reality.   We all know that not every child is a straight A student, that some work very hard, and should be highly praised, for getting C’s.  But if teacher achievement is linked to student achievement and the teacher happens to be in an area that is lower income (which often means both parents work and are not available to help their kids which can affect grades) or has a high percentage of students that are at risk in some other way, then apparent achievement is low.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that the teacher is bad. I’m not saying there aren’t bad teachers or claiming to know a good way to find out who is and who is not, all I am saying is that there are so many variables that can affect how well a child does that you can’t just say it is the teachers fault if they don’t do well.

               So let’s assume that our kids are bright, did well in school and are on their way to college.  Now we face cuts at the college level.  It seems to me that this would mean we have to pay more for tuition.  With the economy so poor our income is less, and now we are paying more for all our regular bills and our children’s schooling is costing more also.  The colleges have less money for new equipment, won’t be hiring additional staff and classes will become more crowded (have you ever been in one of those gigantic lecture halls?  Talk about lost in the crowd!).  A lot of kids won’t be able to afford it and as a result will not get a college education.  How is this going to help them or our country if our kids are not educated?

               It seems very wrong to me that when cuts to budgets are done it is the education of our future generations that seem to suffer so much to accommodate the people with money who are pulling the strings of our politicians.  But maybe I’m wrong…..

               

In the infinite wisdom of the young, my siblings and I at one point finally realized that our mother was nuts as a result of raising five children.   Now this was not all of us, as the eldest brother is multiple states away, and the second eldest, also a brother is working quite diligently as a doctor paying his insurance against frivolous lawsuits such as the last one he was included in.  Really FRIVOLOUS!  I mean it wasn't even a patient of his, it was a person in the cubicle next to his patient.  I mean REALLY???!  No wonder I can't afford to go to the doctors any more!  Between the outrageous cost of health insurance and what doctors charge you (sorry bro) ARGHHH!    Anyway as I was saying, our mother was nuts as a direct result of having kids.  Now I had always contended that my lack of intellect was a direct result of MY having kids.  With each child I lost a portion of my mind that went to them.  Now don't snicker or snort, if you have adolescents simply ask them.  They will be happy to clear up any misconception you might have about what you think you know, and tell it quite plain."you don't know anything!".  I was sure that had to be a result of brain leakage.  I'm thought at some point I was actually considered smarter than a rock.  

Then my kids grew up (their words not mine).  Now I pretty sure I'm just nuts, stressed, and have no life (according to my son)(I did remind him at that time that although it is not uncommon for some mammals to eat their young, I did not and he should consider himself lucky)  But as he is speaking with the wisdom of a freshman college student, who am I to contradict him?