Being a Mommy Doesn't Come With Directions

So yesterday I brought you all the story of the student who drew and anatomically correct picture of her father.  While typing that my daughter managed to get my just filled britta pitcher off of the counter which she dumped all over the floor as she's pulled it down.

Using my ShamWows that needed to be almost 5x bigger to handle her spill, i dried my floor and my yoga mat.

Today I got a letter back from the mother of my little artist.

The letter read;

"miss weller, 
thank you for making us aware of C.M's drawing yesterday.  We had a long talk with her about private parts and what is and isn't acceptable to talk about look at, or draw. She also told us that she doesn't know how to draw clothes on people but we said she doesn't have to draw what's under the clothes..."

I am know filling out report cards and can't help but chuckle as I read

Art
- Show originality

What will i put down for CM?  A resounding YES

Not My Typical Monday Morning

It started off like any other Monday morning.  I got up late, rushed to get ready, left my lunch at home, managed to get to work on time but still felt like i was rushing.  Got my students got back to the classroom and had them draw while i did lunch count and some individual testing for report cards.

And then my morning changed....

One little girl, i'll use her Initials C.M., came up to me and told me she drew a picture for her daddy.  I told her that was sweet.  She told me it was of her daddy getting out of the shower.

To which my response was, "What?"

C.M - "I drew a picture of my daddy getting out of the shower"

And on closer inspection I could see, yes that's exactly what she drew.  She drew her father naked.  And while it was closer to a Picasso than a DaVinci in that the testicles were placed next to the penis, all the anatomical body parts were present in her picture.

I took the picture, and told her I couldn't let her take it home with her that it wasn't appropriate to either be drawing at school or anywhere, or to be given to her father like she wants to do.  I told her she shouldn't draw naked people that those are private areas and to find something else to draw or color.  I did send a note home to her parents so that they are aware that she is noticing such things and that maybe they'll be more mindful of where she is when daddy gets out of the shower.

Needless to say, today was not my typical Monday.

Where Does Self Esteem Come From?

For a comedian he makes some very very good points....

watch this video, tell me what you think.

Ground Zero Mosque? The reality is less provacative

Yesterday I made a post that was all about how we shouldn't be allowing our differences of opinions hinder the remembrance of those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attack or those who have died fighting for our country so that we may retain the freedoms afforded to ALL AMERICANS by our nations founding fathers.

Lets have a history recap here will quick.

The founding fathers penned the Declaration of Independence, what at the time was an act of tyranny against the crown of England, siting multiple (27 i believe) Biblical Violations of the church of England (national and government supported establishment).

This could be why, when our Constitution and Bill of Rights was written the very first Right given to American Citizens was as follows:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The government is not to hinder the establishment of religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof, they are not to hinder the right of the people to peacefully assemble (with in a building or outside of one).

On 9/11 America was attacked.  The means Christians, Atheists, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and so on down the line of religions and religious establishments, were attack as well.  Those of Islamic faith here in America were as much effected by the turmoil and loss as were any other religious group in this nation.

If we are to not allow their freedoms afforded to them by our bill of rights because they happen to profess the same faith and the radical extremists who attacked us, then the terrorists have won.  They have made us stop being Americans, they have made us stop valuing the melting pot of people and cultures that formed this country. They have made us as intolerant as they are, and if we hinder the Rights of the Islamic Americans, than we are no better than they are and this then justifies their attack on us.  This is the very reason they claimed to have attacked us, they claim that we stand in their way, hinder them, and hate them, and for that reason they hate us and attacked us.  We are proving the terrorists right, and only giving them more fuel to the fire.


How could we in less than 10 years go from a united patriotic nation revert back to the same fractured and hateful country that we were before the civil rights movement?  All we've done is switch skin color for religion. And the terrorist win, they're imploding us upon ourselves.

Don't let the terrorist win, show them no matter what they do they will NEVER stop us from being AMERICANS.  Don't let the efforts of the soldiers fighting and dying for these freedoms for ALL Americans be in vain.


Also IT'S NOT A MOSQUE, and it's more than two blocks AWAY from ground zero.  At least the British can see past American Media crap and see it for what it is.  Please read

'Ground Zero mosque'? The reality is less provocative

9/11 - Florida Book Burning & WTC Mosque

Today marks the 9th Anniversary of the Terrorist attack in New York and DC.

I remember it as though it happened yesterday.  I was a senior at Cochranton Jr/Sr. High school in Cochranton Pennsylvania.  I had a 2nd period study hall, which i normally spent in the Library.  I was in the library, on the computer checking emails (yes i was a computer geek/addict back then - it has actually gotten better), and the Librarian came out of her office to say there had been a bombing at the World Trade Center.

Moments after she turned on the TV they announced that it was not a bomb but a commercial airline that had struck the building.  The bell rang and i raced across the hall to Mr. A's psych class.  We watched as the 2nd plane struck the North Tower.  We watched as CNN switched from NY to DC to announce that a 3rd plane had struck the pentagon.  Someone knocked on the classroom door, Mr. A got up to go answer it, and the whole class yelled at him "Mr. A the Tower is falling".  We watched as the towers fell.  By 3rd period we'd heard there had been a 4th plane and that it had gone down somewhere in Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, but that was the last we heard.  The districts superintendent wouldn't allow even the seniors to know what was going on. Teachers were given orders not to tell us anything.  We did later find out that it went down in Sommerset (about 20 minutes from where i attended college the following year).

Remembering the Tragedy of 9/11 should be about remembering the innocent lives of those on the high jacked airlines.  Remembering the heroes of Flight 93, who fought back and brought the plane down so that they were the only casualties of that flight.  We should be remembering the lives of the Police and Firefighters who were lost when they responded to the Emergency at the WTC.  And we should be remembering the soldiers who have given their lives to protect our freedoms in the resulting wars.

We should not be:

1.) Fighting over the building of a Mosque near the World Trade Center.

Those who attacked us are a part of a radical sect of their religion.  Majority of Muslims do not believe as these splinter groups believe.

America was colonized as a place of religious freedom.  Our First Amendment [Bill of Rights]  gives us the right to worship our God or gods in anyway that does not impede of the rights of others in which we wish.  While we were founded on Christian principles, not being a christian doesn't make you any less American.

The Bill of Rights also states that the Government can have no control or say in religious establishments. We should not stand in the way of this building being built.  I Believe that in allowing this building we would be saying to the world, that America will not respond in hate.  It would send a message to the world that we still respect religious freedom, that we still value freedom, and no amount of hate towards us will change who we are.  We will not bow to terrorism, but we will protect our own.

2.) Book Burnings weather the Koran or Harry Potter, is a really STUPID thing to do.

Everything that we do as Christians should show those who do not believe, the mercy, grace, and love of God.  If you do not agree with a person's theology, the way to introduce them to God is not to attack what they value.

I know it is not my place to judge a person's heart, that is left for God alone.  But anyone who could even think to act in a manner with so much hate towards a group of people, with no regard to how it will effect those of their own people could not have ever experienced the love of God in their own life.

There have been so many horrible things done in the "name of God"  that I am sure God would never have endorsed.  The life of Jesus gives us a good idea of what God would not approve of.  The Crusades, the Inquisition, The Salem Witch Trials, and any book burning are high up on that list.

Jesus came to "seek and save the lost" not to scream in their faces and burn what they value.  The sick, not the healthy need a doctor,  just as the sinner, not the righteous need Jesus.  But here is the thing.  We are ALL sinners. Not one of us is blameless on our own.

The difference between a Christian and a Non - Christian (be it any other faith or no faith at all) is that a Christian while a sinner has sought and accepted God's forgiveness, while the Non-Christian, also a sinner, has yet to take that step.  Sin is Sin to God, no one sin is any worse than any other, a murder and liar are on the same playing field when you remember that "the wages of sin is death".

Please Remember 9/11 and the tragedy it was, pray for the families still dealing with their losses, and for those who are still at war.  Please don't make another tragedy with in it by responding in hate towards people who have nothing to do with the act of terrorism that started it all.

Tolerance isn't about saying "it's okay if you're going to hell, do what you want", it's about saying "I care about you as a person even if i don't agree with your religion, or lifestyle".  Tolerance takes a nation farther than hate will any day.

And He's Safe!

As a teacher you should never..... 

Laugh when one of your students wipe out on the playground.

In my defense

1.) I was laughing at what my coworker said not actually at the wipe out

2.) It was a really awesome wipe out


Okay so one of my students was running across the playground.  His head got a head of his feet and he did a perfect on the belly slide into home plate like belly flop into the loose dirt on the playground, right in front of 3 of the 4 teachers on recess duty.

Without missing a beat, one of the pre-K 4 (year olds) teacher's goes "And he's safe".

Of course that left me laughing as i'm trying to see if my student is all right.   This is not helped by his proclamation not to worry about the dirt because its just "one spot", which extended from his collar to his socks.

After collecting myself, by sending him into wash his knee up on his own, so i could laugh and get it out of my system, and applying a bandaged to his scrapped knee...

All was well again and he went back out to the playground to play

I Think I Saw Santa Claus Today

I've been sick.  Not flue-ish sick but allergies sick.

After work, I picked up Alayna and we went to Wal-Mart to get me some allergy meds and her some more milk.

I'm pretty sure i saw Santa and Mrs. Claus at Wal-Mart today.

There was this fat guy with a white beard in jeans, a flannel shirt and suspenders. By his side was this little round white haired woman all dress in red.   I saw little kids gawking at the two of them and i'm pretty sure i heard one little boy ask his mom if he could go say hello to santa.

HAHA.... I so don't miss working at wal-mart.

Guess What?!?!?! -- Purple Polkadotted Penguins?

Kids are very perceptive.  For this reason it is very important that a teacher not react to a student in sarcasm ever.

So have this issue where when I get annoyed I get a little sarcastic (as anyone who ever read my wal-mart chronicles would know).

I have this little boy in my class, who is a very sweet, very talkative child. The most common phrase I hear from him is:

"Miss Weller, Guess what?, my brother and I, Guess what?..." and it goes on.  Every part of his sentences are interrupted with "Guess What?"

I can not remember a specific story of his, but lets pretend his dad took him on a Louisiana Swamp tour.  I'm sure the story would go like this...

"Miss Weller, Guess what?, My dad and I, Guess what?, well we went on a boat and guess what? it was in the swamp, and guess what? it made a lot of noise, and guess what? we saw an alligator and guess what it was swimming, and guess what? it was really big, and Guess what?...."

I have reach a point where I want to answer his "guess what" 's with random things like:

"purple polka-dotted penguins" or "oak trees"

It is an exercise in biting my tongue.  God is testing my patience. I hope I don't fail this particular test, but the more i hear, "guess what?" the more tempting the sarcasm gets.

So....

GUESS WHAT?!?!?!?

It's Monday!! Well Actually It's Tuesday Diguised as a Monday

Today is Tuesday. I know it is, the Calendar tells me so.  But it sure felt like a Monday today.

I woke up tired.  I got to school later than i like to.  My students didn't feel like listening.  I guess i have to crack the whip tomorrow.  No i'm not going to whip my students.  I will go over the rules and procedures of our classroom with them.  I will make them practice and repeat what they should be doing without thought or fan fare.

Their class room seats are going to get moved, as well as they are getting assigned seats in Chapel.

Today I had to make them lose some time at recess to finish up work they wouldn't stop playing around long enough to complete during class.  If they play during lessons, they'll do lessons during recess.    I may sound like the "mean" teacher.  But if they follow the rules and follow directions during class, they'll get recess before lunch, free time before rest time, and playtime while waiting for parents to pick them up. 

Now is tomorrow Tuesday or Wednesday? (please be Wednesday)