Reflecting: Why I Didn't Vote For O'Bama

I think I've stated before that I like the guy, as a guy.  This is not a common thing with politicians for me, especially democratics.  I've been thinking quite a bit lately about my decision not to vote for him (I actually did consider it).  I came to the following analogy, which I truely believe applies to all of those who were actually considering both candidates:

 

I go in to register my kid for 1st grade and the school has two classes and two teachers at the first grade level.  Both classes still have openings and I am involved in PTA, so the school lets me choose which class he gets placed into.

 

Miss Perkins is 22 and she just graduated from college.  She's never taught before, but she did do student teaching (ooh, ahh).  She is hot, perky, energetic and getting me in trouble with my wife because of the way I'm smiling and nodding during our conversation with her. She has great, fresh, fun sounding ideas and explains to us that she doesn't plan to actually teach the alphabet because kids don't like learning it.  But, they learn it eventually through their other "activities".  She tells us how she is excited to use the smarter kids to help the slower kids because it makes them all feel better afterwards.  She is a good model to the kids for health and would definitely be able to catch my son when he decides to start running around the room de-pantsing kids.  She'll be great for him, I can't wait for parent teacher conferences!!

 

Mrs. Bengelstraum is 50, very matter of fact, wears "that dress" that all old gradeschool teachers wear and has gotten an impressive amount of use out of her spectacles.  She tells us about the different methods she uses in class, why she uses them and why she will continue to use them.  She tells us about what she does with the kids who are advanced to keep them progressing ahead of "grade level" and what she does with those who fall behind to quickly get them caught up so the rest of the class doesn't fall behind.  She also gets me in trouble with my wife because she can't keep my attention well enough to prevent me from being caught looking at Miss Perkins and being jealous of the father who's currently having a "discussion" with her.  I begin to think of follow up questions for Miss Perkins so we have a reason to go back and give her more of our time.  There's no way Mrs. Bengelstraum would be able to catch my son in his de-pantsing endeavors, however, he would never think to try it with her.

 

30 years later, my son is still mad at me that the kid next door (who still lives there) had a hot 1st grade teacher while Mrs. Bengelstraum is now one of his patients who needs a pap!!

Happy... Birthday!!

You thought I was going to go with Valentines Day?  Nope.  Today is my son's 2nd birthday and I wish him a HUGE happy one!!  He's already in bed, but we had a great day.  The three of us (mom, dad, son) played a lot (trains, baseball, basketball), went on a few errands, went out to dinner.  Yes, we were the couple that brought their kid to the nice restaraunt on Valentine's Day!!  We got some looks.  I love it.

He is extremely well behaved in restaraunts and I love everytime we go out.  We don't hesitate to go out to eat because of him.  He surprises the people around us all the time.  We have gotten comments from people about how well behaved he is at the restaraunt.  He's used to the environment and he knows what's appropriate behavior in that setting.  It's not that tough.

Anyways, back to my son and his birthday.  This is mainly to him, so you can stop reading if you want.  Son, I am so proud of you.  I love you more than you will ever know (until you have a child of your own).  I cannot believe how quickly these two years have gone by.  You amaze me all the time with the things you say, your humor (although there are glimpses of me in it which makes me feel bad for you), your compassion, your klutziness, your love for music and dancing and singing.  Nothing feels better than when you put both of your arms around my neck and plop your head on my shoulders.  I love how worried you are every night about making sure that your trains get the propper "good night" treatment from you.  I love your appreciation for ad-hoc parades.  I love the way you look at your mother.  

I love you!!  

Happy birthday booger!!

We're Gonna Be Alright

No, I don't think the stimulus package is good.  No, I've not done a 180 on O'Bama.  But, I still think we are going to be alright.  Long term, way after O'Bama's 4 years (that's all he's gonna get) our country's "future" is going to be just fine, if not great.  There is so much crap in the news about kids / teenagers screwing up.  Teenagers acting irresponsibly demanding the question, "What is wrong with our youth?"

Nothing.

I see these kids every day.  There are idiots, yes.  There are also idiots in their 40's (I work with a few).  I have the privelege not only of teaching, but of also being the advisor for our school's student business club.  These kids are good.  Scratch that, these kids are unbelievable.  I recently took them to a conference (this is not a rareity).  Aside from what they accomplished at the conference (which was impressive), their decision to go was enough for me.  Here's what their decision said:

I will get up at 6am on a Saturday!

I will put a suit on!

I will spend ALL day Saturday in that suit at a high school!

I will spend several hours of that day taking a test!

I will spend a few more hours listening to teachers speak to me!

I will have a good time doing it and thank my advisor afterwards for the opportunity to go!

These kids are good and there are thousands of them across this state, let alone the country.  These are the kids who are going to run our country, our businesses, our schools, my grandkids' daycare.  These are the kids who allow me to know that we are going to be alright.  I tell my buddies (who aren't teachers) to ignore the moron teenagers in the news for doing this stupid thing or that.  The good ones outnumber the bad, easily.  The bad are just louder.

No worries, we'll be alright!!