Doug and Laura Nielsen

Birthday time!

2011-01-18T10:34:00.000-08:00

Oh, my cute little son, and how I love him!

Yes, I love my boy. He is the cutest little stinker that ever lived. And, boy, do I miss being with him all day... Curse you kindergarten, and nursing school!

Unfortunately for me, I decided to get a college degree a little later than I should have, and now, I am so busy with everything college related, that I almost forgot it was my little boy's birthday (relax people, I did have a gift for him, and Daddy made sure to buy him some gifts after work as well. The only thing he wanted that he didn't get was a piñata, but if you have been to our apartment, you know why that is an impossibility...) No longer is he a widdle baby, he is now a grown up man of 6!

Yep, approximately 6 years year ago, in the frigid weather of Wisconsin, the hubby and I were slip sliding through Madison on our way to St. Mary's hospital, frantically and carefully as we could, given the -27 degree weather, and the iced roads. A few hours earlier, I had attempted to go to a child's funeral and had slipped in the ice falling into a majestic split that I still remember as being oddly painless.

Indeed, like everything else my sweet little guy has done, this was an entrance to be remembered. My little man, was the cutest little blond baby, and everyone was just as astonished as I was. What a wonderful gift, what an undeserving recipient!

Happy birthday Logan, may all your little wishes come true!

First semester, nursing craziness.

2010-12-17T06:17:00.000-08:00

First came the excitement, the purchases (stethoscope, uniforms, books), and last came reality...

Truthfully, I don't know how I made it through first semester. The very first day in orientation, when we were given our clinical assignments, I began to understand that my life as it had been was about to change drastically. For those who may read this, understand this: when in nursing school, you must give up control over everything. The most infuriating thing about this was the fact that different clinical instructors had different expectations for the students, and for some reason, I was in the group that had to do a lot of preparatory work prior to clinical. It was so annoying to have to work day and night just to keep up, while others had plenty of time to do all of their assignments. Outside of that, the classes were challenging but still interesting, all the way until the end of the semester, when things became worse after I realized that my most challenging class (pharmacology) would have 3 exams (no, I am not exaggerating) in the last two weeks of the semester. Overall, I had 6 exams, after one was cancelled by the *best* nursing teacher ever! However, just like I imagined, it really hit me like a ton of bricks to have to do all of those, and like everyone else in my cohort, I am just glad it's over. I cannot claim to not have known how challenging this would be, but there is one thing that did surprise me. Everyone said that we would make lifelong friends here in nursing school, and I have to admit that I didn't believe them, but it is absolutely true. We have studied together, shared our lives, hopes and dreams, laughed, cried (OK, maybe it was just me that cried, but my nursing school friends were there for me, with a tissue at the ready) and I am so glad that I got to know these wonderful girls. I cannot imagine it any other way. Of course, now that we are close, the school changed everything around, and I have not a single friend in my new clinical site. *sigh*... Time to make new lifelong friends!! Finally, I would like to add that reading the scriptures before studying for exams is the absolute best thing I ever did in nursing school. I have no way of explaining how in the world I was able to get good grades in some of the tests I took, it had to be the hand of God helping me. For the first time in a long time, I actually had the courage to ask Doug to give me a blessing right before a big test on finals week. The very first thing said was that Heavenly Father was pleased with me and my effort. That was the best thing ever! Of course, I was advised to seek the Lord's help, and that he was ready to help me. Which gave me enough peace to allow me a peaceful night's sleep. I still find it funny that I dreamt of chasing kittens all around my house, picking them up and putting them in my pockets, but still, I slept soundly enough to dream... :) The one thing I do regret is that I was barely able to give my family any attention except for FHE. I made a point of taking that afternoon off and I am thankful I did. Adela was so excited to have me home to herself today, she is so sweet... I can't wait for Christmas, I get to see my family in Houston, and get some much needed R&R. And so it is, until next time!

Summer!!!!

2010-08-11T08:22:00.000-07:00

Most of the people that know about this blog are also on my facebook, so I decided not to post pics of my Colombia trip since it will be a little redundant. I had a blast in Cartagena, although it was not without its challenges, and had an even better time in Bucaramanga. Most of my family lives in Bucaramanaga, and I got to see family members that I had not seen since I was 16 years old, way too long ago. It was pretty tough to say goodbye, and although I tried to keep it together the entire last day, I spent most of the plane ride crying uncontrollably. After I got off the first plane, I wondered what everyone else in the plane was thinking about all that, but Oh, well... can't always hold it in, and I definitely couldn't that day.
After we came home, I started to work on some family history research. I went online to find the call numbers for the micro-fiches I wanted to look at, and to my surprise there was a link to view the records on PDF form!! That proved to be the best thing for me. I went to look at my mother's side of the family, since it is the one I know about the least, and I do know where they are from, and found so much information. I was able to trace back ancestors to the 6th generation back, but since they all seemed to die quite young, I went back only to about the 1900's. The next day I looked up my father's side, I was also able to trace back to the 6th generation, but on their side I went pack to the late 1700's. I was so shocked to see on the official records mentions of the cost of registration being in Reales, or the Spanish coins used by the king at the time!!! (Colombia used to be a Spanish colony) It is almost bizarre for me to look at these records... So many children in my family who I never even knew about because they died young, and even a set of twins that not even my dad knew about!
On a more personal note, some of you might even think I am crazy, and to be fair, sometimes I am :) BUT I want to share this nevertheless. A few years ago (before 2005), I had a very interesting dream. I was at my grandpa's place in Bucaramanga, walking on their hall, and I even felt the same familiar comfortable feeling of being home. I looked at one of their walls, which is usually bare, and saw a collection of old pictures. in the center there was a metal family tree with pictures, instead of names on the branches. In it, I saw a girl I didn't recognize, and I just asked out loud who this girl was. My mom and aunt where there and told me that she died very young, and that no one knew her because her work was not done yet, and then I woke up.
When I talked to my mom next, I asked her whether there was any girl that died young in her family, and she said no, that there was an uncle of hers on her mother's side who died young, but no one else to her knowledge. I then told her about my dream, and she said maybe it was her uncle, but I knew it had to be a girl for it to make sense.
So, as I was looking up her ancestors in Simacota, I found a girl, Socorro Gomez, who died only a year before both of her parents died, and this all occurred when my grandpa was only a few years old. He may or may not remember her, but obviously didn't tell anyone about her, and I am so glad I looked them up.
I have a new found appreciation for my little family and my children since I have done this. They are my most precious inheritance, and I should never forget it.
I must go now and do some more mundane things, I have to get ready for nursing school, Emma's and Logan's school shopping, and catch up on cleaning, which I have put off for far too long....
Ta ta!!!

A new journey!

2010-04-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

Since I have three finals in a couple of days, I really can't write for too long today, but I wanted to say a couple of things about the latest news... I have been accepted into the University of Utah college of nursing, and will be starting to work toward my nursing degree in August! I am very excited, and relieved... this will be a good thing for us.
For a while there, I was very worried about this whole thing, but Heavenly father was mindful of me, and sent many wonderful people my way lately to be kind and comfort me. The anxiety level was very high for me, for many different reasons, but I found that even the lessons that were taught at church in the last week made me feel better. I started school to ensure a better future for my family, and getting into this program gives me a great deal of peace of mind. In two years, I will be a nurse, and while the program is tough, I know my father in heaven will help me, just as he has so far.
I also want to enclose a picture of Doug and I. He always makes funny faces when I take a picture, so this is the best one of the bunch. I have now lost a total of 18 lbs since I first started, and have a long way to go, but I am confident I will be a lot healthier very soon.
So there it is, I am glad I have people to share the wonderful news with, and very happy that my family supports me in all of this, especially Doug. None of it would be possible without him. I am going to be a nurse!!!!

Recent events

2010-03-06T05:36:00.000-08:00

First, I will talk about the mundane, and then I will talk about the exciting stuff!
Today I am at work, and I feel very self conscious because... well let's start at yesterday afternoon. I decided to work out, and used my brand new weight gloves (they have a 1/2 lb weight built in), and because they are rather tight on my hands, I decided to take my wedding ring off. I went to bed, went to work early today, and I feel almost naked without it! It is a very uneasy feeling not having my ring, and nobody else will notice it, I am sure, but this is the second time I have forgotten to put my ring back on after a workout. Hopefully soon, I will no longer need to take it off, if it is not the gloves, then the swelling in my hands do me in...
School has been going well, I had two exams creep up on me last week, and I only had 3 days to study, so everything else was delayed because of it... Next week I have my second pathophysiology exam, and I am trying to prepare for it now. I am also doing other stuff for my volunteer program. I will not run the program next year, so we are in a mad dash to get everything ready for the new program director. I have a person in mind to take it over, and she has applied for it, but we won't know the final decision until the end of March. What's more, I was supposed to let my coordinator know that she is the preferred choice, but as it turns out, the new coordinator will pick the new program director, and that person will not be picked until next week. In addition, I am almost to the end of my program funds, and I must buy more looms, then I can close the program to new people, and the next director will start over next year. I have enjoyed this experience, but in a way, I can't wait for it to be over...
Emma told me very proudly the other day that they had to take exams to assess their level of academic performance at her school, and that the teacher told everyone in the classroom that she was the only one to get 100%. I was very surprised, and almost didn't know what to say. Looking back, I wish I had made an even bigger deal about that, but I will talk to her soon about how proud I am of her.
That brings me to the exciting part: Emma was finally baptized (after many "issues" with the scheduling of the event), and it was a great turnout, more than 50 people were there! Most of Doug's family, and a lot of our ward friends were there, and I was very happy to see lots of kids that day. Doug's dad gave the most wonderful talk about the holy ghost, and it was truly an inspired talk. It was geared to the children, and he had props and visual aids, which made it really exciting for them. I hope that Emma remembers this day. She got a few gifts, and she loves the Book of Mormons we gave her, one in English, and one in Spanish. There was something very interesting that happened in the baptism, Emma has always had a fear of water, and she hates showering, bathing and swimming. It has taken us many years to get her to do all these things without screaming at the top of her lungs (if you are family, you know what I am talking about), and while I was not too worried about that, I think she may have been. When she came out of the water, one of the first things she told me, was that she was surprised that the water "didn't feel like water", and she said that when she was under the water she felt as if she was not in water at all. I knew that I would cry a lot that day, so I tried to stop myself and enjoy the day as much as possible, but I am a sentimental fool, so I did anyway. Most everything worked out just fine, so I was very happy, and exhausted at the end of the day.
This is one day I will always remember.

3 weeks

2010-02-17T19:06:00.000-08:00

Well, I thought it was about time for me to post a progress report. It has been a little over three weeks since I started implementing my diet and exercise routine, and although the results have been rather slow, I have seen some changes.
1. I am no longer having breathing problems when I do light walking and exercise.
2. My blood pressure is back to normal, last time it was measured it was 115 over 60... YAY!!!
3. My clothes are getting quite loose on me, no need to get smaller clothes yet, but I am sure I will get there :)
4. I can put my wedding ring on ( it is a tight fit, so I will wait a little longer before wearing it again).
5. I am no longer in a constant hunger state, that was getting old...
6. I have lost 7 pounds since I started.
This is small but encouraging progress, and since I am using a program on my phone to count and track all of my food intake, it has become a lot easier to stop overeating. I am getting very excited!
Until next time...

What do you do with your gum when you are done with it?

2010-01-16T19:00:00.000-08:00

Apparently, putting your gum on your hair and eyebrows, so that you look like the love child of Unibrow and Wolverine, is a great option!
You can probably imagine how awful it was to try and get that stuff off his hair, but we managed. However, despite washing his hair and face, he stills smells like a combination of gum and peanut butter... YUK!!!

Pirate ship

2010-01-07T20:28:00.000-08:00

Two posts in one day is very unusual for me, but I had actually written the first a few days ago, and just had not posted it.
Well, today Logan went to the daycare for about an hour, and he had lots of fun drawing. I just thought his pirate ship was the cutest thing I have ever seen! He went through great pains to draw a skull and crossbones on the flag and I can't help but want to share his artistic talent :)
I also asked him about his name on the top left, and he said, "yes it's my name, L O G A N, Logan!"
He is a bright little rascal! Love my little boy.

Down to the wire

2010-01-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

Life is changing very quickly for me... Or at least I hope so.
I had wanted to go to college for quite some time before I did so. I first applied to the University of Wisconsin shortly after I married, but became discouraged after continuous problems delayed my admission, and in fact, I simply made the decision to wait. When I prayed about it, I got the impression that it was OK to start my family then.
Fast forward 8 years, and I found myself with 3 kids, dirt poor and with absolutely no prospects. In fact, I was very lucky to have a good paying job doing translations for the department of defense, but only worked part time, so I was not able to make enough money anyway.
At that time, I prayed a lot to get an answer to what I should do, and received a distinct impression that I should go to school. I got everything started, and didn't look back.
It took a lot of time and work,It's not perfect, but despite being so busy, Doug and I are trying to be good to each other, which is all I can really ask for. I have been very successful in school so far,got good grades and I am truly learning about the world and myself which has made going to school a very fun experience (when I am not stressing excessively about all I have to do).
And now, here I am, at the eve of applying to the school of nursing. A very nerve racking experience, since I worry too much about what might go wrong in these kinds of things. I have had my share of disappointments lately, and I get a little scared.
I had to write an essay, which I started a long time ago. I was having a very hard time writing it, which is not really characteristic for me, but nevertheless, I could not write, or fix what was there, I felt utterly powerless. It took a lot of time, but finally I asked friends and family to look at what I had, and help me out. Everyone was so wonderful, giving me plenty of feedback, telling me what they thought was lacking. Thanks to Marco, Kike, Cory, Trina, Julie, Eli (James), Chelsi, Mary and Martha. You guys really helped get my essay where it needed to be. I have to say that I felt much better after working on it some more, and I feel confident that I have done everything possible to make my application reflective of my potential. Well friends, as of today, the application is in, and now I wait. I should hear from them by the end of March. Until then, I just wanted to share with all of you the finished essay, which actually tells a lot about some of my previous life experience and where I want to go.
Here is a small excerpt:

According to the Institute of Medicine, Medical errors are the cause of approximately 98,000 deaths in the United States (Kohn, 26). Of those, 34,850 patients would have survived if they had received appropriate treatment (Shojania et al., 2853). Although misdiagnoses have decreased substantially in recent decades (ibid, 2853), a development nurses played a considerable part in, they continue to significantly affect patient care. Unfortunately, I have experienced this firsthand.
My father suffered a stroke when I was 15 years old. When he sought medical help he was misdiagnosed, subsequently suffered irreversible brain damage, and has been permanently disabled since. After my father returned home, my family and I had to make adjustments to accommodate my father's needs, and I became his full-time caregiver. I fed, bathed and dressed my father everyday; I helped him do physical and speech therapy exercises, and went with him to his doctor's appointments. Through this experience, I gained a great deal of respect for nurses. It was emotionally challenging to take care of my disabled father, but also extremely fulfilling to see his progress and make a difference in his life. From that point on, I was determined to one day become a nurse... (I wrote a lot more, but have been advised not to post all of my essay, so here is the conclusion) As a nurse, I will have the unique opportunity and responsibility to do what is necessary to obtain the correct diagnosis for my patients. While it is not feasible to expect an error-free performance, I know that the personal experience I've had with my father will always remind me of the reason why I should strive for excellence in clinical practice. I know that the quality of education I attain will dictate the caliber of professional that I become. This is why it is my sincere aspiration to realize my dream of becoming a nurse at the University of Utah nursing school.

Temple!!

2009-11-19T11:38:00.000-08:00

As mentioned earlier, I had planned to go to the family history library to do get names ready for the temple. Everything worked out so well, from the parking, to the children behaving so well throughout the whole hour I was there. I printed 4 cards for me to do, 3 sealing, and 3 male names. I still have to do a lot more, by the time I got all that done, the kids were antsy and started to fight, So I will have to go back and do about 15 more names, but I was feeling so great when I walked out of the family history library, so cool!
Then I went home and my cell phone alarm went off, today is the ward temple night, it said. I called the temple to make sure I didn't need an appointment to do my own family names, checked to see if I could have them do the male names for me (Doug let his temple recommend expire), and then called Doug to see if he would be OK watching the kids. He then informs me that he got his temple recommend last week, and would like to do my names in the temple. So, I arranged for carpooling, babysitting (Thanks Brigetta and Kayse!) and got ready to go!!!
Next we got to the Temple, walked the very long walk from the main entrance to the baptismal font (I needed to correct the cards I printed first), when we got there, there was a very large group doing baptisms. We asked about what we should do, and we were told we would likely have to wait until everyone else had gone through. Luckily, we were allowed to go through before them, since I had my own names. We went through, and it was so wonderful! When we were done, I had the distinct feeling that my grandma is happy now.
Awesome stuff!!!

More from the world of the mundane

2009-11-18T15:58:00.000-08:00

Emma certainly amazes me every day. She just finished reading Stuart Little, and will soon start reading Charlotte's Web. Adela and Emma are both growing so fast that although Emma is 4 years older than her, Adela is wearing a dress that I just took out of Emma's drawer because it was too short. (that may have more to do with the fact that Emma is so thin that she still fits into size 4-5 T shirts). Adela is way too smart (like her siblings, but more street smart I guess...), and quite a model, look at her posing!
Logan is as always being a little rascal. We took all the kids to parent's night out, and when we got there to pick him up I was told about all the naughty things he did. I was furious! Not only is he being bad, but also, he is ruining the experience for all of us. In fact, if he continues that way, they won't watch them any more (gasp!!!). Let's hope he does better...
About me, I had quite a scare last week, when I was supposed to sign up for my classes in the spring and one of them was totally full. This ordinarily would not be a big issue, but it is an online class, and I need to be registered in order to be considered for the nursing program. Anyone who knows me just a little bit knows that I tend to panic easily... Well, I was in full blown panic mode, even so far as asking my visiting teachers and home teachers to pray for me so I could get in the class (I got chastised by Doug later over that). In any case, I was praying about it yesterday, as I had done for quite a while and remembered something from Sunday school class a few weeks ago. It was about family history work, and the instructor talked about turning your heart to your ancestors, and they will turn their hearts to you, and help you. I remembered how my dad and mom tell me that my grandmas are watching out for me. So, I decided to finally submit their names for temple ordinances, and I started planning a trip to the family history library to get that done right away. As soon as I did that, I got an email from the professor, telling me that the add codes will be sent in a couple of days.
I also talked to my mom and dad and asked them if they would give me permission to do their parent's temple work, and my mom agreed, but my dad not only agreed, he told me he has a feeling that it is what his Mom wants. Tears filled my eyes as I realized it was her wish all this time, and it is soon to be fulfilled.
Until next time...

Family night

2009-11-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

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We were both so tired last Monday, we decided to go to red robin for dinner, it was great! granted, we played with our cell phones more than we should have, but both of us took some really cool pictures of the kids. The fun really started when we got shakes for all of them... boy, were they excited! I was glad we were at a restaurant and I didn't have to clean up after the mess! I especially like the fact that when I took the picture on the top, Logan was eating from the spoon, and by the time the phone took the picture he was licking the spoon!

Rock band!!!!

2009-11-10T20:31:00.000-08:00

So, my wonderful brother Marco sent me a game he bought used from a store in Princeton, New Jersey. This game is the naked brothers band game. While the game itself was not that exciting to me (it is about the dumbest show that ever was after teletubies), the great thing about it was that it comes with a microphone. I already have rock band, and I am so excited that I will finally get to try out the track pack I bought a while back, but that somehow doesn't work with the guitar I bought. So, I tried it out with Rock Band 2, and sang "Today" by smashing pumpkins. It really is not that much of a challenge, since I know the song by heart (SP was my favorite band when I was growing up), but it was still strangely satisfying to get 100 % on the first try.
Well, here is a little video of Emma giving it a try. Enjoy!!!

new phone

2009-11-08T07:33:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know, I am happy to inform you that I have replaced my old phone (LG chocolate) with the Droid from Motorola. I am so happy with it, it does everything I wanted in a phone and more! With this phone, I can go online and see just about anything, and can even download homework assignments from webCT, I can check and send email, I can take pictures (5 Megapixels) and take videos, it has a built in querty and touch screen keyboard, GPS, bluetooth, music player (plays all my mp4 songs), voice command and WiFi!!! Oh, and now I have unlimited texting (I have never had a texting plan) and I am trying to learn the "texting ropes".
Anyway, the most awesome thing about it, which helps me out so much is the fact that with the phone, I can get turn by turn directions (like a TomTom would do) to just about anywhere, and I only have to talk into the phone and tell it where I want to go! Today I tried it out just for fun, to go to the family history library, it was awesome!!!
While it is not an iphone, I actually think in many ways it is better, and I might never think about getting an iphone again! This is my Christmas gift, and I am completely satisfied. best gift ever!!!

Halloween

2009-10-31T19:40:00.000-07:00

Bride in the ER

Today was such a fun day. Not only was work easy, but I had loads of fun just seeing what people dressed up as in the hospital. My favorite was a nurse in the ER that dressed up as a bride. For a moment there, I actually thought there was a real bride in the hospital. That was a first, LOL!
Kristin, from work was kind enough to come in early for me so that I could take my kids trick-or-treating, and we went to my in-laws to do so. The only problem was that Logan had a bad case of diarrhea, so trick or treating didn't last very long :( But, they got plenty of candy, and they were so cute! Adela was snow white, Emma was a rabbit, and Logan was Iron man.
Overall, a great day, but I am exhausted... Sometime soon I will post some pictures, but for now, I am spent!
Until next time.

Blessing in disguise

2009-10-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

Life sucks sometimes... or does it?

This is going to be a really long winded story, so bear with me, especially those of you who have heard parts of it :)
I am taking an easy class, with a teacher that has not been understanding of my situation (mother of three, full time student, wife and working part time), and was quite rude when I asked him if being called in to work would be an excused absence. So, I asked my coworkers to please help me out in case I was called in on Fridays.
For all of the semester so far, I have not been called in, and this is the first week that it has happened, but the person I counted on to work for me during class time is going to be out of town, so I sent an email to everyone else at work and just waited. This was after I was informed that I will be working Christmas day and new years day. Although I knew that it was a possibility, I was very sad about missing Christmas with my family. Well, as it turns out, working on those days works well because they are holidays, which means I don't need anyone to watch the kids because Doug will not work. Since Celeste will be out of town for the holidays, this works perfectly. The days that I wanted to work instead are not holidays, so I would have had to find a babysitter, in December, when everyone is out of town. It may be a good learning experience to work on a holiday, there will be lots of accidents, rare cases, etc, and I may even watch a few Christmas movies... And, since those two days fall on a friday, I will not have to work unscheduled holidays as well as my on calls, because they fall on the same day!
So, I got an email a few hours ago from a coworker, telling me she will cover the first 3 hrs of my shift, and I have pretty much done all the homework I will need to turn in that day. All the things that were supposedly wrong are actually better than what I had planned, and I can breathe again. My father in heaven takes good care of me...

Learning continues

2009-10-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

Sunday is great!

I have learned a lot about myself today. As I was participating in class and giving my opinion on the little knowledge I have gathered in my own life, I realized that I have lost so much of myself. What I have read in the scriptures about losing the wisdom that you were given when you fall, is absolutely true. As I regain some of the knowledge and wisdom in the gospel that I have lost merely because of inaction, I am humbled and amazed. It is wonderful to know that I am so blessed, to have my children, my husband, health and life that I enjoy. They are all gifts.
Today, I will be with my family (The Nielsen clan, as I call them), and we will eat Tacos for dinner.
Also, I got the funding I needed from the ASUU, and I am elated!!! Thank you to everyone that has helped me with this, it is absolutely wonderful of you all to have supported me in what I do!!
I am such a lucky girl!

The end of the week

2009-10-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

Can't wait!!!

Doug is currently out on the deer hunt, and I can't wait til it's over and I have my husband back!!! I regret to say that he didn't get a deer during this hunt, but he can't complaint because he did get a deer in the black powder hunt. I am glad for him and the kids that we went on the deer hunt, it is just exhausting for me, since I have to juggle that plus everything else as well.

There is also something else I can't wait for, NEW CELL PHONE!!! I really want a new cell phone. Nothing fancy (I would love an iphone, but will not get one until they offer it through something other than ATT) I will settle for just something that works. I have been such a brat lately, I am so glad that my wonderful husband has been really patient with me and my daydreaming about an iphone. I love my apple products though, so I guess I am allowed to daydream once in a while :).

I will post again about that later...

Oct 22, 2009

2009-10-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, life is not without those little bumps on the road...

I have been putting a lot of effort into making sure that Emma (7 yrs old) will do well in school. I have been talking with her teacher often and do everything I have been asked to do with her. Emma had not gone into her classroom on time after recess for some time. We had a meeting with her teacher and determined a plan of action to curve the behavior. I met with her last week, and she said that Emma is much improved and is even doing some great writing. Then this morning, I talk to Doug. He got a phone call from the principal, she made Emma explain to her dad that she didn't go into the classroom after she got off the bus, and came into the classroom 20 minutes late. She was sobbing, and he could not understand a word she said. Then Doug gets into a heated argument with the principal about the fact that he can't ensure Emma will go to her classroom when he isn't even there and can't possibly be there. The principal said she wanted to have us ensure that this doesn't happen again.
Well, apparently, this whole conversation was on speaker phone (I told Doug this is not good for the principal to be undermined by him, but no matter). I don't know what else I can do to make sure she is there ready for learning. I get her on that bus, and off she goes, and then, I had assumed, the school made sure she did what was required. The principal actually asked if we have told Emma how important it is to follow the school rules. "No, Mrs XXXXX, we are anarchists, we tell Emma not to listen or do what you say, that is just what we do..." *dripping with sarcasm*
I am at a loss. What more can I do? We don't think she is being rebellious, but if that is the case, then what is going on?
One thing we know for sure, in the school principal's view, we are the problem, no other children ever do this, and we must fix it.
Being a parent is definitely much harder as kids get older. The solutions are much harder to come by, and the behavior less easily changed. Everyone at the school makes it seem as if Emma is the only child that gets distracted like that. If this is true, I am not sure what I can do to help.
If anyone can give me some helpful suggestions or advise, it would be greatly appreciated!
Hopefully the next post will be on a much more positive note, if anything, I have learned that life is full of ups and downs, and by next week, this whole uncomfortable episode might be a distant memory.

Until next time.

Our first post

2009-10-21T21:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome one, welcome all!!!!

Today was one of those days. The day didn't start very well, as I was simply too tired to get up and do anything, but I still had to get Emma off to school and get myself and the kids to class. When I started doing my schoolwork, however, I had an even harder time. I am taking a bioethics class, and the topic of study for this week is on abortion. Those of you who know me well, know that I hold some pretty strong opinions about that, ever since I watched a video of an abortion being performed while an ultrasound image captured the procedure, I cannot fathom how a mother could do such a thing. I have felt strongly that fetuses are more than a part of a woman's body, or an extension of it. They are human beings (if you would like to consider them potential human beings, I can agree with that assessment as well), and the arguments that I have often heard have gone in the face of logic. In one of my course assignments, there was a comparison of a pregnancy to kidnapping a woman and connecting her kidneys with a sick violinist so that he can remain alive. First of all, a fetus that is biologically related to a woman is not the same as a stranger. Second, and this, I assume would be true for most pregnancies, women are not kidnapped into a pregnancy. Most know there are risks when being sexually active, and one of those risks is a pregnancy. On this account, the same author compares this argument to this scenario: If children were like pollen, and could float into your house when the windows were open, and you knew there was a chance that if you left the windows open, the children could fly in and start growing in your house, you would put a mesh screen on your windows, but that would not guarantee that pollen would never get in. If a child got in even after all the necessary precautions, you wouldn't say to the woman that she can't get rid of the pollen, simply because she knew that there were risks to leaving the window open. Therefore, the argument that if women don't want children, they should not engage in sex is not fair.
I wonder if this writer in particular ever had children of their own. I get tired of hearing people comparing unborn fetuses to kidnappers, tumors, just human tissue, etc. Besides that, you don't get pregnant by engaging in everyday activities like opening your window, or walking around outside, yet all the attention of this particular writer seems to go away from individual responsibility, as if becoming pregnant was a spontaneous act that without one's consent, takes a body hostage for 9 months without provocation.
There was, however, another article that was far more convincing and logical in their argument titled Abortion from a feminist perspective (or something like that), which in effect detailed the reasons why abortion should be allowed, but did not go as far to dehumanize the fetus. I cannot go into every argument, but in essence, this author details the fact that in a male dominated society in which females have been taught to be submissive and care more about others than themselves, many times, sexuality (whether overtly or not) has been used to manipulate and control women. I guess I have a better idea as to why some women believe abortion should remain legal. I can understand it, and see very well that they are right on a number of levels. Of course, my religious and moral beliefs are not in agreement with abortion, and I still despise the practice, but I see why some support it. Because of this, I am having a bit of a crisis of sorts. I cannot come to terms with the fact that while abortion is morally wrong, it should still be allowed to prevent further subjugation of women in this culture. Should the cause of Women's liberation be worth the life of so many human beings, allowed to die before their time?