We made it through this week!! It was the first week of ISAT (Idaho Standards Achievement Test) for the students at Jefferson Elementary, where I work during the school year. (At least I presently work there--who knows what will happen after all the cuts!) I have been working in this district for no less than 15 years now. If I reach full retirement in the state retirement system, I will have worked for the State of Idaho for approximately 23 years. Presently I am waiting to hear about next school year. No decisions have yet been made by our school board so far as I know.
Life has its twists and turns and can be very difficult to negotiate at times. We are trying to have some humor around here, but the stress is overshadowing everything we try so far. And yet we cannot stay serious all the time. After all not every minute has to be sad. Only some minutes need to be sad so that we can appreciate and know happiness.
Sometimes we need to count our blessings and enjoy the beauty and humor surrounding us in life. Every day of work I have bouncy, happy, little ones all around me!! How could I be more blessed?! Our little 4-year-old is a magnificent blessing in and of himself. And when I go to work at the school there are 630+ just like him, many of them running up to me each day to tell me about something they did, when their birthdays are, what they got or are getting on their birthdays, their teeth that are wiggling loose and what the tooth fairy brings, what they can do on the bars or the slide or the glider, how their favorite professional team or their own peewee team won a game, how they did on the state tests, and many other wonderful things in their lives. Sometimes I sit down with a student and we visit about how life is working out for them. Often they come to me for help in solving a problem with another child or other children.
Sometimes their parents call me to ask for help with their student. "I just don't know what to do!" I am often told by a frustrated mother. "Can you help my child do better in class? on the playground?" a parent asks me. I am simply humbled by the faith and confidence placed in me at times by both the children and the parents. I often ask myself, "Can I really do this?" And yet somehow I usually manage to help that child and/or parent in some way--even when I don't think (and maybe they don't think) I am doing so.
Over the years I have been a school counselor I have been thanked many times by grateful and gracious parents and children. I have also been criticized by some of the same--even after working intensely with the student and risking my credibility (i.e. sticking my neck out) for that student and even for those parents.
But all of the bad stuff pales in comparison with the joy of seeing a child happy and full of excitement over life's great moments.There is nothing more wonderful than that!!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
LDS.org - Family Chapter Detail - The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles
All our friends:
To find out more about what Easter is please use the following link:
Easter, a Sacred Time of Year
Easter--Is is not about eggs and bunnies and Easter baskets. Those are fun and nice and come from pagan rituals. It is about the atonement. It is about our Savior, Jesus Christ's and Heavenly Father's love for us. Easter is a very important time of our year when we remind ourselves of His mortal ministry and that we really cannot comprehend that sacred something he did for us. He suffered for our sins in Gethsemane. He suffered and died on the cross and was resurrected and brought us the resurrection. He has taken away the sting of death and the victory of the grave. After we leave this life, we can then be resurrected and live again with Him.
This life is a time for us to prepare to meet God and to perform our labors and serve Him. We will never be perfect (complete) in this life. When we leave this life it won't matter how close to perfection we are. What will matter is which direction we are headed. As an apostle of the Lord once said, it just doesn't matter how far up the "ladder" we are, so long as we are headed up and not down or some other way. We will be saved in the celestial kingdom of God so long as we are going in the correct direction.
I am so thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and his love and sacrifice for us!! I have made sacred covenants to live as He would have me live. May I so do!!
Of the truth of these things I testify in His name, even Jesus Christ. Amen.
For more information to to www.mormon.org or www.lds.org
This life is a time for us to prepare to meet God and to perform our labors and serve Him. We will never be perfect (complete) in this life. When we leave this life it won't matter how close to perfection we are. What will matter is which direction we are headed. As an apostle of the Lord once said, it just doesn't matter how far up the "ladder" we are, so long as we are headed up and not down or some other way. We will be saved in the celestial kingdom of God so long as we are going in the correct direction.
I am so thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and his love and sacrifice for us!! I have made sacred covenants to live as He would have me live. May I so do!!
Of the truth of these things I testify in His name, even Jesus Christ. Amen.
For more information to to www.mormon.org or www.lds.org
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
First Day of Spring Break--I Slept In
Today was the first day of our district's Spring Break and I slept in. I did go to work at one of my other jobs at 4 pm, but mostly I just went slower and enjoyed the vacation. Now I am so sleepy I can hardly think. To bed I go.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Parents, People, Comments, and Child Rearing
A cousin of mine who has adopted a child from Russia has been key in guiding us through taking charge of our Gabriel and helping him with attachment issues and other issues of adoption. On some adoption boards and very well-read and respected for her adoptive parenting wisdom and wisdom in general, she recently posted a comment about her tangle with another person who apparently freely pointed out that, due to the fact she had other children before she adopted she lacked knowledge of adoption.
Not certain exactly what the disagreement was about I find myself reflecting on the commonalities of disagreements and criticisms in whatever context they may appear. As a teacher, a licensed counselor and school counselor I have had to learn a lot about these social forays and why they occur. In education I have found these to be especially distressing and they certainly need addressing as the problems they are.
People will criticize for several reasons. They may actually feel insecure and self-critical about their own struggles with this topic and may be trying to make themselves feel better by putting someone else down. They may be viewing the other person as inferior to them. They may just be wanting to bully someone. They may genuinely believe that they know the only way and that no other way is acceptable. They may be pushing a cause they are devoted to. They may be wanting to be respected as an authority on the topic and may believe they are getting insufficient recognition. They may just be socially inept. And there are probably more reasons than I have mentioned here.
Regardless of the reason for the attack they often leave the attacked steaming and fuming. Over the short span of my life I have had to deal with these situations many times and in various contexts. I am certain that you have likewise experienced these situations in ways that have disrupted your life.
Deciding that I am never going to live free of these types of attacks I have concluded, at least for myself, that I need to deal with them in ways that give me my life back as quickly as possible. In this way I can hopefully continue to function normally while I process the incidents.
Without a doubt I have come out of such situations scathed in some way. Usually I have found myself angry at the person who is doing the inflicting. I have tried arguing back and showing my anger and opposition to the other person. I have tried talking about it to others to garner support. I have tried simply pretending like it hadn't happened. Every time I have argued and shown my anger at the person I have felt "small". Every time I have shared my experience with others I have felt "small". When I have tried to pretend it had not happened I have found myself talking to myself to garner support!! None of these has ever worked for me. The wound just keeps getting bigger and bigger and going deeper and deeper. It is only when I have responded with a caring attitude toward the other person that I have come away feeling okay with myself.
Since I cannot control what anyone else does I find myself now wanting to control what I do about what they do. Thus instead of simply reacting I can act on the situation and feel more comfortable in my own shell.
In his book, Bonds That Make Us Free, C. Terry Warner expresses his beliefs about how, "Life can be sweet." This amazing book seeks to help us maintain our appreciation for ourselves. He comments, "We all know the difference between times when we feel open, generous, and at ease with people versus times when we are guarded, defensive, and on-edge." And this entire work is devoted to understanding ourselves better and taking back control of our own feelings instead of, for instance, believing that someone else "Made me mad."
With me this approach to life works well. The application of the principles embodied in this material is challenging for me. As with many of you I have my own issues that tend to just pop-up and challenge my ability to take back control. And when I do take my control back, claiming my own emotions as mine and making decisions that are in my best interest, a very liberating feeling emerges within me and I am back on track and happy again.
I do not entirely accept all of that which C. Terry Warner advocates, but for me the general principles he covers are relatively sound.
I plan to keep referring to those and I teach my kids, both at school and in my family, as much as I can about how much control they really do have in their lives. It is actually very scary to some of us to discover this, but when we overcome our fears of this knowledge, we can move on and be happier.
Have a great day, and thanks for reading!!
Not certain exactly what the disagreement was about I find myself reflecting on the commonalities of disagreements and criticisms in whatever context they may appear. As a teacher, a licensed counselor and school counselor I have had to learn a lot about these social forays and why they occur. In education I have found these to be especially distressing and they certainly need addressing as the problems they are.
People will criticize for several reasons. They may actually feel insecure and self-critical about their own struggles with this topic and may be trying to make themselves feel better by putting someone else down. They may be viewing the other person as inferior to them. They may just be wanting to bully someone. They may genuinely believe that they know the only way and that no other way is acceptable. They may be pushing a cause they are devoted to. They may be wanting to be respected as an authority on the topic and may believe they are getting insufficient recognition. They may just be socially inept. And there are probably more reasons than I have mentioned here.
Regardless of the reason for the attack they often leave the attacked steaming and fuming. Over the short span of my life I have had to deal with these situations many times and in various contexts. I am certain that you have likewise experienced these situations in ways that have disrupted your life.
Deciding that I am never going to live free of these types of attacks I have concluded, at least for myself, that I need to deal with them in ways that give me my life back as quickly as possible. In this way I can hopefully continue to function normally while I process the incidents.
Without a doubt I have come out of such situations scathed in some way. Usually I have found myself angry at the person who is doing the inflicting. I have tried arguing back and showing my anger and opposition to the other person. I have tried talking about it to others to garner support. I have tried simply pretending like it hadn't happened. Every time I have argued and shown my anger at the person I have felt "small". Every time I have shared my experience with others I have felt "small". When I have tried to pretend it had not happened I have found myself talking to myself to garner support!! None of these has ever worked for me. The wound just keeps getting bigger and bigger and going deeper and deeper. It is only when I have responded with a caring attitude toward the other person that I have come away feeling okay with myself.
Since I cannot control what anyone else does I find myself now wanting to control what I do about what they do. Thus instead of simply reacting I can act on the situation and feel more comfortable in my own shell.
In his book, Bonds That Make Us Free, C. Terry Warner expresses his beliefs about how, "Life can be sweet." This amazing book seeks to help us maintain our appreciation for ourselves. He comments, "We all know the difference between times when we feel open, generous, and at ease with people versus times when we are guarded, defensive, and on-edge." And this entire work is devoted to understanding ourselves better and taking back control of our own feelings instead of, for instance, believing that someone else "Made me mad."
With me this approach to life works well. The application of the principles embodied in this material is challenging for me. As with many of you I have my own issues that tend to just pop-up and challenge my ability to take back control. And when I do take my control back, claiming my own emotions as mine and making decisions that are in my best interest, a very liberating feeling emerges within me and I am back on track and happy again.
I do not entirely accept all of that which C. Terry Warner advocates, but for me the general principles he covers are relatively sound.
I plan to keep referring to those and I teach my kids, both at school and in my family, as much as I can about how much control they really do have in their lives. It is actually very scary to some of us to discover this, but when we overcome our fears of this knowledge, we can move on and be happier.
Have a great day, and thanks for reading!!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Oh--That's Where I Do That!!!
Epiphanies!!! I finally took a look at my blog, didn't like it, and started searching for something that looked very different that what I had seen--templates were what I wanted. Now you can see my blog and its links. Perhaps some day I will connect with how to design my own template. But this new, light background, simple template will just be fine until then. After all--a techy I am not. A somewhat savy senior--that is a better description of me. I just can't figure out why little old ladies who are younger than I keep thinking they are older?!
Finally I Went Through My Email!!
With all the jobs we both are now working to keep up with our expenses, and with a little one and all the other activities we are involved in it is no wonder that I had over 500 email messages to sort through today. What I cannot figure out is how to get my friends and family subscribed to this blog. I have even opened it to public view and only have two followers!! One is my son and the other is my cousin.
Of course when I started using this blog and sent announcements out to all my family I had not realized that nobody could actually access the blog without a gmail account. Even then they were having trouble getting to my posts.
I have just added a bunch of gadgets to my blog that should make it easier to access--a search box, a list of blog titles and topic, and some other things--several and I don't remember what they were. I just viewed the blog and realized the text color and background are making it difficult to read, as well. So, I have some more adjusting to do before I try to send out any more invitations or email any of my posts (if that is possible).
I guess the fact that I am not really a tech hurts my ability to manage something like this. My cousin seems to have her own blog sight somewhere on its own--not in blogspot. She is more techy than I (and younger, as well) so I keep wondering--How did she do that? My son also has his own blog sight--not in blogspot.
Oh well. I think I will just see what I can do with this one. Maybe I will be able to get some things right here before I move on somewhere else.
Keep checking back and maybe you will see my blog start looking better. Some day I might even add some more photos!!
Of course when I started using this blog and sent announcements out to all my family I had not realized that nobody could actually access the blog without a gmail account. Even then they were having trouble getting to my posts.
I have just added a bunch of gadgets to my blog that should make it easier to access--a search box, a list of blog titles and topic, and some other things--several and I don't remember what they were. I just viewed the blog and realized the text color and background are making it difficult to read, as well. So, I have some more adjusting to do before I try to send out any more invitations or email any of my posts (if that is possible).
I guess the fact that I am not really a tech hurts my ability to manage something like this. My cousin seems to have her own blog sight somewhere on its own--not in blogspot. She is more techy than I (and younger, as well) so I keep wondering--How did she do that? My son also has his own blog sight--not in blogspot.
Oh well. I think I will just see what I can do with this one. Maybe I will be able to get some things right here before I move on somewhere else.
Keep checking back and maybe you will see my blog start looking better. Some day I might even add some more photos!!
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