Guest Speaker

I used to work at a place called Tanager Place in Cedar Rapids, Ia. It is a residential treatment center.... kind of like Cedars here, but a little different. When the guest speaker came to my special ed class we got in a disscussion about the crazy things that parents have done which causes bad effects on the kids. I saw drug babies, physical and sexual abuse, neglect, just about everything. It was definately the only job that I have had that had such a big impact on my life. Made me think a lot about parenting, and how these kids didnt deserve to have any of this stuff happen to them, but they are working on getting over it.

Economy

This economy is causing problems every where. Detroit is in serious trouble as an entire city! Many families in class were affected by this economy, including mine. The government is bailing AIG out. My family is having a really hard time with this economy and that is stressing all of us out. A big chunk of my trust fund is invested into my uncles company because we are trying to prevent banctuptcy. He is almost ready to file because the company is barly making it by. It very frustrating to watch everyone struggle.

Pregnancy and Paper

Interesting the teen pregnancy rate is down. Kind of unbelieveable considering according to everyone in this world "sex sells." MTV and commercials just promote sex and promiscuous activity. I would like to understand why abortions and miscarriages arent in a pregnancy category, so its more like the teen birth rate has gone down.
Paper is complete. I am rather nervous about it. I am not sure I wrote about what the teacher wanted to hear. But we'll see what he says when the grade comes out.

{Parenting 101}

Tuesdays class really made me think about my cousins and they way they parent. They dont pick their battles. Everything is a battle. Their little girl just turned five and they decide the way she dresses, they way she does her hair, they make her play violin and piano. When she was younger if she put her shoes on the wrong feet they yelled at her. I always felt bad for the kid. But now I realize that she is not going to be able to make any decisions on her own, and she is going to need her parents to hold her hand for a long time!

Parenting

I found it interesting when we talked about principle or preferance. Is it your preference that your child be dressed correctly or is it principle that they are dressing themselves. This reminds me of my cousins and their daughter. They used to yell at her if she put her shoes on the wrong feet. I hated it. They dont pick thier battles with the poor kid.... they battle everything. They have her well trained now because she just obeys everything they say. Which brings me to what Hollist said about why do people want thier children to obey them. They made her play piano and violin. They make her dress a certain way. They even make her do her hair in the same way everyday. The sad thing is she is five. She is not going to be able to make any desicions on her own.

Test on Tuesday

I found the test to be easier than the one before. I am terrible at procrastinating so I didnt start studying until the weekend was almost over and mostly Monday night. But when I took the test there were only a few questions that I really struggled with, or that really confused me. The rest I felt had pretty obvious answers. Or I only had to pick between two instead of four answers. The essay was rather easy considering i actually studied for it this time. Only one of the short answer questions was hard to me but I dont rememeber which one. I hope he gets the grades posted soon. I am nervous to see my grade. Now the next thing to worry about is that family interview.

The one who is least interested wins

I was slightly shocked to find out that the person who is least invested in the relationship has the most power but after I thought about it it makes total sense. The one who wants this relationship is going to try anything to keep the relationship together, and the one who doesnt want the relationship is going to demand anything they want because they can and ususally get it. It was interesting because I looked back on my recent serious relationship and realized that the statement is completely true. I was the one who cared, and I let him do alot that hurt me just because I wanted to keep him around. Now that I know the principle I am not going to allow myself to be sucked into a bad relationship again. I am going to make decisions in my new relationship, and make equal decisions so that we may actually share the power instead of it being one sided.