I was at the periodontists getting my teeth cleaned yesterday and the lovely technician is talking to my daughter. She asks about her favorite class which she tells her is art and they are making homemade journals. My little girl tells her she is using warm colors on hers, oranges, yellows, pinks and reds. The technician (I call her this because she is more than a hygienist) goes on to ask my daughter then, “Well, what are the cool colors?” My daughter responds, “Hmmm, the coolest colors I think are the pink and the white and then I can blend them together and that makes a pretty cool color too.” I had to wait to laugh until she removed the instruments from my mouth. The technician was laughing too, well she asked. We didn’t explain what she was really asking, because hey, pink and white are very cool colors, whatever… it’s cool.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Midterm Anxiety
My Freshman are freaking out a bit this week before their first official high school exams. The proof is two kids called me 'Mom' and one kid called me 'Ms. Paragraph!' It was so funny. 
Monday, January 19, 2009
I'm so excited!
Well, tomorrow will begin a huge change in our country. I am so proud to be an American right now, I'm practically gushing. I am lucky enough to work at a school where we had the option of taking our kids down to see the inauguration on the big screen in the auditorium. I can't wait to hear Obama's acceptance speech. I just know we will remember something from it for decades, as we have so many American Presidents inaugural speeches. For example, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
It is so difficult to explain my excitement though and tried with my child today. I think now that Obama will be our President it means anyone who recognizes the value of hard work, perseverance, and who knows that helping others is the best way to help ourselves, can make it to the top in this country. He or she can be a leader no matter what the individual's particular dream may be. I think it shows us that as a country, or even as a human race, we have finally accepted that our diversity is what makes us strong. We accept that we do not all look alike and should not all look alike, that we should have varied experiences in our lifetimes, not cookie cutter existences, and most importantly that we don't have to have the last name of Kennedy, Bush, or even have a family in politics to lead our wonderful country. Obama’s inauguration means to me that my daughter can be a future President of the United States or anything she wants to be, that being raised by a single mom with not a lot of money is no longer an impediment. If a single mother can raise a President any single mother with the desire to help with schoolwork, read with her child, and give her child challenges, hopes, dreams, self-esteem, love, love and more love, will raise a child who can do anything they wish to work hard for. It means any of my high school students, if they work hard and make good decisions, can be whatever they dream.
Of course, all of this could have happened before and could have happened if McCain was President, but money, history, and family power did not win this time. Brains, heart, and perseverance won this time, and we call afford those things no matter who we are. Especially us single mothers with the apartment and car the dream of the house and the better future for our child, we can now start dreaming bigger and better for our children, not that we didn’t before but because now we have proof that the values we strive to convey to our kids work. And not just single mothers, but all mothers. I didn’t vote for Obama because he was raise by a single mother, I voted for Obama because he made me think the status quo could change and dreams can come true.
G-d bless our new President and his family. And G-D BLESS AMERICA!
