Monday, February 23, 2009

Future

Its is amazing to me how everyone in your life knows what you should do with your life minus you. I got a degree in Liberal Studies and a teaching credential which means I can teach grades k-6. I'm not sure I want to do that. So now I am getting a child development permit which lets me teach preschool. This is the first time I have actually enjoyed school and wanted to learn. Doesn't that say something? Most everyone I talk to says I would be wonderful at preschool yet when I talk to the parental units, they say public elementary school or nothing. Shouldn't you do what makes you happy and fulfilled, not what your "supposed" to do because you get more money?

Jobs are so complicated and their are so many choices. I want to go into ministry (either high school or college) and I want to do preschool, potentially teach for 2 years so I can get a non expiring credential, an who knows what else. I think the difference between my generation (20 somethings) and my parents is that my parents get a job and do it. They do it until they retire, where as my generation does a job because it is something we WANT to do and have fun doing.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

qariopgjq

So have you every had one of those moments. One of those moment where you do everything right and everything in your life is falling into place. Where God and the world just seem to make sense?
I have a theme song that relates to this, it's called "One Moment In Time" by Whitney Huston. My part goes like this, "Give me one moment in time when I am more than I thought I could be. When all of my dreams are a heart beat away and the answers are all up to me. In that one moment in time I will be, I will be FREE." I keep praying for that time, that time when, according to another song called Amazing Grace, I can sit in church and sing, "Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me......my chains are gone I've been set FREE."
Freedom, freedom from pain, for guilt, from shame, from the past, from the present, from the future, from every hurt from every wound from yourself. Freedom, such a small word with so much meaning.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Should alcohol consumption be illegal during pregnancy?

So for my Child Development class this morning I had to answer the following question:
Now that you know that the leading cause of mental retardation (alcohol consumption during pregnancy) is completely preventable, what do you think are appropriate procedures to implement in order to help avoid such birth defects?

Should alcohol consumption during pregnancy be limited by law? If so, how? If not, why not? Why do you think this is this such a controversial subject?

Are there other legislative issues that you think ought to be considered when it comes to protecting the developing fetus? What should the rights of the mother and father be during the prenatal period?

Here is my response, what do you think?

I am really torn on this issue. I want to be able to say, “ yes make alcohol consumption during pregnancy be completely illegal.” Then I start thinking about the babies of those mothers who are already born a step behind everyone else; would it benefit them to have their mom go to jail? Chances are that the baby would then go to family member and be raised. But what if the baby goes into foster care? Some of my friends that have been in foster care, would of rather stayed where they were because it was so bad. If you don’t step in though the baby already born with FAS (probably) is now living in a house where one or both parents (if there are two) are alcoholics and that is not good either. Like the book said the most important part of the developing fetus is the first few days and weeks after conception when Organogenesis happens and most women don’t know they are pregnant at that time, so would it help to put them in jail after the baby is born? There are already so many non-special needs kids waiting to be adopted by families, it takes even longer for special needs children. The hard part is that we all want to prevent birth defects, we all want healthy happy babies and to what extent will we go to achieve that?
The best thought I can come up with at this point is that the mom’s should go to a rehab facility. If they have family that is sober, have the baby stay with them, if not mom takes that baby with her and people there take care of the baby while mom works on herself. (meaning baby and mom live together with other babies/moms, but sitters are provided when mom’s go to therapy or need to be elsewhere) I just think that so much can happen in jail, you want the mom somewhere safe and you want the ultimate goal to be for mom and baby to, if nothing else, be in each others lives.

Monday, February 16, 2009

land of puddles

I grew up on a hill in a small town. Grass Valley, despite the name, is neither a valley nor made of grass. It is in fact a bunch of hills so when it rained all the water rushed away. In Chico however everything is flat and when it rains it just puddles. So all the water pools in various spots all over Chico. So when it rains I get to go puddle jumping or better yet I get to rush through puddles at very high speeds in my car. Makes me laugh.