Nike University

My mother-in-law and I had this very conversation at the MACHE conference last weekend:

WorldNetDaily: Nike University

I predict that by the time my children are ready for it, the world of post-secondary education is going to be a completely different planet than the one with which we’re familiar.

The Gospel According to Margie

Margie’s been working on her theology during rest time these days.  She brings a Bible story book to bed with her and pores over the illustrations, reporting to me later her thoughts about what she sees:

Margie: Mom, there’s a picture in that Bible about Jesus dying on the cross.  Jesus had to go to a lot of kings when he died on the cross.

Mom: What did the kings do?

Margie: They made him carry a cross.  And they made him die on the cross.  I saw some pin things on that picture, too

Mom: Pin things?  What do you mean?

Margie: Those kings put pin things in Jesus’ hands, and they put them in his feet, too.

[Baba walks in on our conversation]

Margie: Baba, see these kings in this picture?

Baba: Those aren’t kings.  They’re soldiers.

And what follows is probably the most profound thing I’ve heard from Margie’s mouth:

Margie: Mom, I saw a picture of Adam and Eve eating the fruit from the tree.

Mom: What happened when they ate the fruit?

Margie: They became slaves.

“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”  (Matthew 11:25-26)

Roman Soldier

I saw Baba walking around the yard like this today.  When I asked him what he was doing he replied, "I saw a picture of a Roman soldier, and this is the kind of shield they have.  So I’m a Roman soldier."  We’ve been studying Ancient Rome for the past couple of weeks, and apparently at least some of it is sinking in.

Where Were You When . . . ?

Awhile back I had an idea for an interesting book that I’ll probably never write.  I’d love to ask every person I know and meet where they were and what they were doing when some of the watershed events of our country occurred.  It seems like one of these events occurs in every generation: for my grandparents’ generation it was the attack on Pearl Harbor, for my parents’ it was the assassination of JFK.  My generation has the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle firmly fixed in our minds.  And who can forget where they were and what they were doing the moment they heard about the 9/11 attacks on our country?

What was I doing on January 28, 1986, when the Challenger exploded?  I was in fifth grade, playing during recess (JJ, were you in my class that year?).  Because of sub-zero temperature, we were kept inside for recess that day, so I was standing at the back of the classroom when our teacher walked in and said, "Today is a sad day for our country."  The room became quiet as he explained what had happened, and I spent the rest of recess watching the news coverage on a TV in the school library.  My parents were away in Los Angeles visiting my great-grandma, so my brothers and sisters and I came home to an elderly widow from our church who was staying with us that week.  I remember sitting on the floor in the living room arranging some sort of candy into groups (I can’t remember what kind now) and watching TV.  They showed the footage of the explosion over and over again, etching it in my mind.  I think watching the explosion made a big impression on me because my parents’ trip to Los Angeles included their first experience with air travel (at least to my knowledge), and I was nervous when they left that something would happen to their airplane.

I was 8 weeks pregnant with Margie when I heard about the 9/11 attacks.  DH had started anesthesia school the day before, and my mom and dad had Baba with them for a few days.  I was taking advantage of my temporary freedom by sleeping late that Tuesday morning.  About 8:00 AM the phone rang, and when I answered it my mom told me to turn on the TV.  I told her we didn’t have cable, but she said, "Turn on the TV; this will be on whatever channel you have."  You all know what I saw when I turned on the TV.  My first thought was that I needed to get to Baba and bring him back home, but I quickly realized that he would be safer in rural Wisconsin than in a city like Rochester with a high-profile target (Mayo Clinic).  I suddenly had mixed feelings about my pregnancy and the uncertainty of bringing a child into a world such as ours (but can anyone imagine a world without Margie? ).

So how about you?  Do you have memories of any of these events or others I haven’t mentioned?  In the off chance that someone reading this remembers Pearl Harbor, I’d especially love to hear from you.  Leave a comment here (it’s really simple, just click on the "comments" link below this post) or let me know if you answer on your own blog so I can link to you.  Of, if you don’t mind me adding your response to my blog, send me an email with your memories.  If I get enough response, maybe I’ll get that book written after all.

04/29/06 – Mother Goose added her memories to her blog.  C’mon, where are the rest of you?

Easter Pix

Here are Easter pix of the kids.  I didn’t post them earlier because we forgot our camera at my parents’ house, and it was returned to us on Tuesday.

  Junior wouldn’t consent to posing for the camera, so this is the best shot of hiim we could get.

Stitches

Last night Baba pulled a Greg Louganis on us.  During the last five minutes of swimming lessons, it’s customary for the kids to be given free time, and Baba spends every minute of his jumping (and, recently, diving) from the diving board.  Last night he didn’t something he probably shouldn’t have done–he attempted to jump off the diving board backwards.

I didn’t actually observe the accident, and judging from the reactions of the lifeguards I’m thankful I missed it.  The ordinarily cool and nonchalant teenagers were visibly shaken.  Baba’s swimming instructor was trembling so excessively that he couldn’t hold his hand steady enough to apply a butterfly bandage to the wound under Baba’s chin.  Our little diver himself didn’t handle the pain so well either, but I won’t embarrass him by going into too much detail.  Let’s just say it took over two hours at the hospital to patch him up, and Daddy came home from the hospital completely drained, physically and emotionally.

Baba ended up with three stitches under his chin and some ugly abrasions on his torso.  Thankfully, we were spared spinal and internal injuries.  Here’s a picture, courtesy of Daddy’s cell phone, of what he looked like in the hospital:

Judging from his expression, I’m guessing they’d juiced him up pretty well by the time this shot was taken.

This is what he looks like this morning (my apologies for the angle, but that the only way I could get a clear view):

More On Government

Baba will have a moment in the spotlight later today due to a frightening accident at the swimming pool last night; however, this morning I’d like to continue the conversation of the week concerning the bill proposed by Senators Kennedy and Brownback.  My MIL (who, by the way, knows her politics) weighed in with a comment this morning, and I hope she doesn’t mind that I share parts of her reply in a more public setting.  I believe she adds some good ideas to the discussion:

The goal of the bill is laudable though maybe intrusive. I would think though, that maybe the babies and parents would like the help.

Often laws are created after people fail to do what is right on their own. And, since we have a sinful nature, sometimes the law makes us do what we should do of our own accord, but don’t unless required to do so by a law. These can be parental laws of our homes, community standards or any other level such as this one.

And being non-perfect people, the laws may be imperfect as well. DH is absolutely correct in stating that people should do their own good work and then laws would not be needed. And DH is also correct about using other means to move towards the goal of positive, compassionate care for Downs babies and parents.

Sadly there is always a part of society that neglects to do so and we have numerous examples from the cowboy badguy era to the Hitler’s and Mussolini’s of the world to demonstrate the depravity of some people. And also during those times demonstrated the best of other people as they worked to save those endangered.

However, depraved people don’t care about following the laws. They just ignore them. So what is the purpose of any law?

To reach out to those, who with prompting of the law or a requirement of the law, will do what is right.

That final statement is a key, in my opinion.  I don’t believe most doctors are depraved to the point of thumbing their nose at a law.  If this bill becomes law, it will serve its purpose because most doctors fit into the "those who need the prompting or requirement of the law to do what is right" category.  What I do know is that I’ve experienced situations similar to those described in the Harvard Crimson article which cause me to agree that the law is probably necessary.  For instance, five years ago I went to a doctor for assistance because I suspected (correctly) that I was experiencing early signs of a miscarriage.  The doctor administered an ultrasound, and when the black and white image of my unborn child appeared on the screen I asked, "Is that the baby?"  He replied, "No, that’s the fetus."  Whatever your view of the personal status of the unborn, I think most would agree that’s a deplorable way to speak to a distraught woman facing the possibility of a miscarriage.  Such circumstances are not limited to my experience, as illustrated by the Harvard Crimson article, nor obviously are they exclusive to medical practice.  However, for whatever reason, I’ve run into such calloused attitudes more in the medical field than in any other realm of my experience.

I hope this bill becomes unnecessary.  I hope the medical establishment becomes so alarmed by the intrusiveness–and it is ridiculously intrusive–of this proposed law that they get their act together and start educating and policing themselves.  If they don’t, the government has God-derived authority, apart from the Constitution, to breathe down their collective necks (Romans 13:4).  I believe John Adams and other founders of our government understood this, as illustrated by the quotes I mentioned yesterday.

As for the ideas suggested by my DH, i.e. letters to the offending docs and/or letters to the editor, I agree that’s the ideal answer to the situation.  However, it’s my opinion that if a problem has the attention of two Senators from such vastly differing viewpoints it’s probably so widespread that it’s gone beyond the realm of letter writing. 

Thanks, But No Thanks, Ted Kennedy?

If you’ve read the comments from my previous post, you already know that my husband and I have this (amicable) conversation frequently.  Neither of us feels passionately enough about our point of view to let it become a wall in our relationship.  Nor do I desire to travel too far down the road of political discussion because the subject quickly becomes distasteful to me (and it’s really not the purpose of this blog).  However, by presenting a few ideas from two men who were involved in the formation of our government, I do want to clarify my opinion on the subject raised yesterday:

Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom.  (Patrick Henry)

Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People in a greater Measure than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty. (John Adams)

We have no government armed in power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other. (attributed to John Adams or John Quincy Adams)

Simply stated, we place the cart before the horse when we seek freedom in an immoral society.

For further reading: Jolly Blogger:Dead Guys Talking About Democracy

To my husband I say: I’m sorry that I embarrassed you by mentioning Ted Kennedy in a positive light. (wink, wink)  I’m just as disturbed about this bill as you are, but I’m bothered more by the fact that it may be necessary than the fact that it exists.  And you need to get your own blog so we can banter back and forth about this stuff there and stop bothering the poor folks who come here to read about the adorable antics of our progeny.

Thank You, Ted Kennedy

Although I’m personally not a fan, the Senator from Massachusetts is getting something right:

Mommy Life: Down syndrome babies deserve a better welcome

I suspect his experiences with his sister may have influenced Mr. Kennedy’s involvement with this bill.  The article in question here is over a year old, so I’m curious to hear how far the bill has come through the process.  I don’t have the time now, but perhaps later today I’ll do some research.

Incidentally, am I the only person disturbed by the idea that we need a law to force doctors to give up-to-date and accurate information?

Conference Highlights

My sister and I spent part of the weekend at the annual MACHE conference.  I think it’s accurate to say we’re both glad we went.  I reconnected with several friends from college whom I haven’t seen nor heard from since I left there more than 10 years ago.  One was my roommate my freshman year, and it’s interesting to see how her story has unfolded.  Truthfully, had you asked me back then, she’d have been the last of my friends I would have pegged as a homeschooler.  But there she was, researching handwriting curriculum for one of her five children.  I almost cried when I saw her because I’ve wondered so often over the years what became of her.  God has brought a lot of those “chance” meetings into my life over the past year.

The major draw of the conference for me was the curriculum booths.  I do a lot of my school research on the internet, and although the vendors often have samples available for viewing online, there’s nothing quite like holding the book in your hand and thumbing through it to get a feel of how it will work for your family.  I’ve had an art curriculum in mind for a couple years, but I didn’t feel I had enough information to feel comfortable about spending the money for it.  Not only did How Great Thou Art have a booth at the curriculum fair, but I was excited to hear that Barry Stebbins, the author of the curriculum, was speaking in several workshops at the conference.  After sitting in on two of his workshops (which included 10-minute drawing lessons which impressed me with my own ability to draw), I decided that Mr. Stebbins philosophy of education closely matches mine.  I purchased Baby Lamb’s Book of Art for Margie, I Can Do All Things for Baba, and How Great Thou Art I for myself.  Yes, I hope to learn to draw right along with the kids!  We’re finishing up our Astronomy study next week, so I’m planning to start art lessons during what has been our science time-slot.

Speaking of science, my plan has been to continue with science, math and art over the summer to provide a bit of structure for our mornings.  I chose art and science because these are the “fun” subjects in Baba’s opinion and math because I have petrifying memories of going back to school the fall of my fourth-grade year realizing I had forgotten every bit of math I’d learned to that point.  As I mentioned, our formal astronomy studies wrap up next week, and I’ve been debating which direction to follow next.  I considered continuing with the Apologia elementary books and starting Botany this summer, but after doing some research at home and at the conference I decided instead to try something new (I’m definitely planning to return to Apologia next fall–that’s great stuff!).  When we’re finished with our Tapestry of Grace studies for the year, probably sometime mid-June, we’ll begin a study of Meteorology and Hydrology using God’s Design for Science (it’s under the section titled God’s Design For Heaven and Earth, in case you’re interested).

One final benefit I experienced at the conference was encouragement.  I attended a workshop about using hands-on projects in education specifically because I feel that’s a weak area for me.  What I learned was, although I do have room for improvement, I’m doing more multi-sensory teaching than I realized.  As the speaker listed some hands-on project ideas, I found myself thinking, “We’ve done that!” with several of them.  Remember, Moms, sometimes our feelings are based on faulty information.  You might be doing more than you think you are!