Alex is officially walking. It started about the second week of October, as he would take a cautious step or two. Now it's caution to the wind as Alex Boy races around the house. Sure, he'll still drop into the occasional "commando crawl" when he's unsure of his footing outside, but he's decided that he likes being bipedal a lot more.
To celebrate his new found skills, Tara bought the little guy his first sneakers and they are awesome. There's something about seeing really tiny shoes and wondering just how impossible it is that they actually fit on real feet. Alex never liked shoes as a baby, but as a walking man they are essential daily attire.
I'm still suffering the effects of Halloween this year. I think it's because we had fewer trick or treaters but we still managed to buy the same amount of candy. Guess who's been taking care of the leftovers. I can't let it go to waste, can I? I'm just glad that today is Fast Sunday so I can purge the system of everything fun size.
Two random thoughts about the daylights savings change this year:
Pro - I loved that daylight savings came after Halloween this year. It was great to take the kids out after 6 pm and still have it dusk outside. I think this was a big win.
Con - I was so excited to get my extra hour of sleep this morning, then I realized that daylight savings doesn't mean the kids are going to sleep in. We were still up at 7 err 6, or whatever it was. Oh well, maybe they'll go to bed earlier tonight.
Since I have 30 days to write about various topics, I thought today I'd mention 5 things most people probably don't know about me. Think of this as your chance to get up close and personal with me.
One of favorite movies (I'm really coming out of the closet on this one) is The Bridges of Madison County. I think it's one of the best love stories around. The lead characters aren't a young couple drawn together by lust, rather they are a pair deeply committed to one another after only a few short days together. The scene when Meryl Streep has her hand on the door latch and debates about jumping out of truck to run to Clint is so heart wrenching! Many people know that I like Clint Eastwood movies, but I'm sure you didn't know this was one of them.
Another hidden passion is Sex and the City reruns on TBS. I can't get enough of that show. I think it was one of the best written sitcoms that deal with real issues and some things that never get talked about on TV. Now remember I watch the edited versions on cable, so before you judge remember that it's TV-14 and not R.
I hate this habit but I still crack my knuckles. I know, it's gross and I wish I didn't do it, but I haven't been able to quit. If any of you have suggestions on how to stop let me know.
One of my favorite cereals is Quaker Oatmeal Squares. It's not one that most people have tried, and they're missing out. I tend to like more "grown up" cereals (ones that don't have marshmallows) and this is a hidden treat. I guess I should also fess up that Tara usually buys it at The Store That Cannot be Named becasue it costs half as much. It kills me that's where we get it from, but I need my Quaker Oatmeal Squares fix...
Every week I listen to Green Day American Idiot while I'm mowing the lawn. I know that they use some pretty adult language, but the riffs and lryics in this album are incredible. I think one of the best songs on the album is Whatshername. What a classic song about breaking up and moving on. The fact I listen to Green Day may not surprise most of you, but I thought you should know that I listen to more than U2.
So, there you go, I've opened myself up in the blog. I plan to share many more shocking revelations over the next 30 days so don't be surprised when I write about more of my hidden passions.
Over the past 6 months the school voucher debate has been raging across the state of Utah. There’s been a lot of money spent defending both sides of the issue and lots of man hours spent preaching the good word about why or why not to support state aided vouchers. Here is the main issue as I see it: State Funding for Private Schools. I don’t agree with the idea that we should divert funds from our public schools to provide parents with the opportunity to send their kids elsewhere. I am not completely opposed to the concept of private schools, especially when parents decide that those schools best meet their personal needs. Still, as we’ve heard so much about parent choice, I think if parents choose to send their kids to private schools they should choose to pay the bill themselves.
In the state of Utah we already have one dramatically under funded educational system. I can’t imagine what we’d be getting ourselves into if we allow vouchers to create a second under funded educational system. A $3000 voucher can’t provide parents with the ability to afford the bulk of private schools across the Wasatch Front : Waterford starts at $11,000 and that’s just for grades 1-3, Juan Diego costs $8500 for high school enrollment, Realms of Inquiry runs about $7100 for elementary students, Reid School will cost you $8500 for elementary and jr. high age students. Sure there are cheaper options out there, but I only found a few that could be covered by vouchers (and that would require that most students convert to a new religion – not sure that’s what voucher proponents want).
Another issue I have with the whole public/private school debate is the effect of having students separated from one another in a form of class system. I believe that public schools are a perfect microcosm of the real world. Students are asked to deal with others from various backgrounds (race, religion, standard of living, etc), they are put in situations to deal with people they like and many they don’t (we can’t pick who’s in our classes), some will have teachers that are great and some that aren’t so great (do any of you have bosses that match this description), and a wide array of other factors that private schools can eliminate due to their student selection process. Simply put, private schools can keep anyone out and public school have to let everyone in. Even if it's sometimes easier to only deal with people who look, think, and act like us, it doesn't help our kids prepare for the "real world". It reminds me of the “live in the world, but don’t be of the world” philosophy that we hear of so frequently. If we take our kids out of the world, how can they find out what they’re made of?
Some will argue that parent choice will provide competition within schools to reach higher standards. While I agree that competition can lead to higher achievement, there’s no real link that private schools will provide that competition. Any of you who’ve been involved with public education will agree that the majority of schools are extremely competitive and want to have their students achieve at a high academic level. I won’t say that you can’t get a great education at a private school, but there’s no merit to the argument that private schools provide a better education than public schools. Check out the CRT or ACT scores at the end of the year and you’ll see that public school scores are actually higher.
In the end, I can’t support a system that rewards the elite and punishes the masses. We need to fix the public education system, not let some jump ship with taxpayer dollars. I don’t have all the answers when it comes to this question, but I do believe that Referendum #1 isn’t the best choice for Utah students.
NaBloPoMo is back again!!! For those of you who don't know NaBloPoMo is National Blog Posting Month. The challenge is to write a blog post every day for the month of November. I had such a great time with this last year (I don't know how the readers - all 3 of you - felt about it) that I'm definitely back for another run. Over the next month I'm going to try to open up and talk about some issues that have been on mind lately: School Vouchers, the Mountain Network, Cable programming, Parenting 101, Men and Book Clubs, Holidays, and many other hot topics. So, if you're tired of my ramblings already, you may want to avoid the blog for the next 30 days. If not, sit back and enjoy the ride.
To celebrate his new found skills, Tara bought the little guy his first sneakers and they are awesome. There's something about seeing really tiny shoes and wondering just how impossible it is that they actually fit on real feet. Alex never liked shoes as a baby, but as a walking man they are essential daily attire.
