Look! A Penguin!
Ok, so my class is definitely the strangest class at our center. I loveee the kiddos, but dang, sometimes they are just so bizarre. Anyway, I have been so busy so far this semester that I haven't had time to do a bunch of the projects I've wanted to do at work. One of which are sneaker planters to hang outside. I got this idea from the Inclusion Conference, Outdoor Learning Environments. You get old sneakers, fill them with dirt and plant some seeds in the heel, then hang them from a fence or a tree by the shoelaces. It's adorable and it's awesome outdoor natural artwork...something our playground needs immensely. So in the meantime, I had been working on this book for my Penguins. It's about all the things they do in the classroom. Each page has a penguin that one of the kids has colored and some hilarious captions that I wrote about the pictures. I finally finished it today and was so proud of myself that I took pictures of it...and you, dear reader, have the privilege of seeing it here first hand.
The Kitchen
Ok, so my kitchen is not done (OBVIOUSLY) but I thought I would post some pics of the udpates. Ignore that I have no molding, no toe-kicks, an unpainted dry-walled wall, a fucked up tile wall that will eventually get retiled...oh, and no countertop yet. But the cabinets are beautiful and I wanted to take pictures of them, so here they are :)
Life
My Models of Early Childhood Services class is definitely one of the best classes I have ever taken at Carolina. Dr. Palsha is amazzzzing! She knows everything and something I really like about her is that she tells personal stories about her experiences, and they are actually meaningful and relevant to what we are learning and taking away from class. As a Bio major, I did not have too many professors that told anecdotes that were interesting or pertinent, except for Dr. Church who taught my Pathology class, cause he's the bomb too.
Today in class we read the story I posted below (A Trip to Holland). I love stuff like this because it always reassures me that I am in the right field, and I am doing what I do for a reason. I just adore children with special needs and I cannot imagine my life not working with children that are disabled or terminally ill. This class has given me a much needed boost professionally, and I am very appreciative of Dr. Palsha's enthusiasm. I am thinking about asking Sensei Broom about starting a program to teach Ninjutsu to children with special needs. Martial Arts are one of the sports that I feel like everyone can do no matter their ability. I would love to teach a class like that. My time is really limited, but that is just an idea right now that I wanted to write down.
Also, I am always talking and complaining about my romantic relationship situation...and today in class I realized some things. I don't think I'm upset about the fact that I'm not married or in a serious relationship right now. I'm upset because I value family so much, and I want to have a family with a really healthy home life. For me, that would mean a husband. I'm not looking for one, so you need not apply...but I do want to have a baby at some point with someone I love AND who loves me back (that's the important part). I've also decided after that one baby, I'd like to adopt. I hadn't thought about adoption too much previous to taking this class...but I think I would really enjoy raising a child from another culture and learning about that culture to make it part of my life too. Generally, I would like to find a partner who is willing to commit1, is not scared of me and is basically like, "You do your thing, I'll do my thing, but we are in this crazy life together. I'll back you up." Is that so much to ask? Haha maybe.
I also saw my friends Chris and Jas last night. They have one and a half year old, named Desmond. He's my pseudo-nephew. I love him. I have known him since before he was born :) He has been afraid of my laugh since he was born too and it always takes him a while to remember, "Oh yea, this is Katie. I'm ok with her and now I'm going to go get her all of the books off of my shelf and put them in her lap." I miss seeing them a lot...I need to just be less busy so I can see all my friends more often.
Me and Des
A Trip to Holland
By Emily Perl Kingsley
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability – to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It’s like this…
When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans…the Coliseum, the Sistine Chapel, Gondolas. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting. After several months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go.
Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland!” “Holland?” you say. “What do you mean, Holland? I signed up for Italy. I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.” But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place full of pestilence, famine, and disease. It’s just a different place.
So, you must go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It’s just a different place. It’s slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy.
But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around. You begin to notice that Holland has windmills. Holland has tulips. And Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.” And the pain of that experience will never, ever, ever, go away. The loss of that dream is a very significant loss.
But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.
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