Would it be wrong of me to say that I dread the summer with my kids out of school for a whole month. OK, maybe dread is too strong a word. I just haven't gotten into summer mode yet and it feels like I've forgotten how to relax. I've spent so much time being the drill sergeant, I don't know if I can go back to being the recreation director.
I know it will be fun having the kids home and they're going to be 10 and 12 so they're big enough to amuse themselves. I think I can sum up my anxiety with two words: video games. My kids are addicted and I anticipate an entire summer playing computer police when they'd like nothing better than to play computer games from sunup to sundown and beyond.
We'll do lots of activities and we'll splash around in the pool every day. I also will be encouraging them - OK forcing them - to read, practice the piano and do a little bit of review school work. I've never done that before but they struggled this year so we're going to have to do some schoolwork. Come to think of it, maybe my policing days aren't over.
If I'm honest the other thing I'm dreading is that I won't find any time for myself. I'll be sucked into the full-time mom thing and forget that I'm trying to write every day. I'll stop having adult conversations. I'm sure I will find a way to do both but I guess I've become selfish about my time.
But all that aside, summer is my favorite season. All these scenarios I'm griping about? The lack of a schedule, the long lazy days? I love all that. I just have to learn again how to stop rushing around like a crazy person and read a book or sit by the pool. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it with a little practice.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Swine Flu Blues
If you're unlucky enough to have a kid come down with a fever right now, then you're likely to be told that your kid has to stay home for seven days. That means they miss their last week of school and their parents get them home for an extra day.
My friend's son is just getting over the flu. No one can tell her if it's actually the swine flu but he has to stay home from middle school for a full week regardless. Even when his fever is over and he's jumping around the house, he'll still be home playing video games.
He's missing the ice-cream social and the bowling trip and my friend is mad as hell. But this is apparently a policy coming straight from the Centers for Disease Control, so doctors aren't willing to override it.
I sympathize with my friend. I'm sure I would be less than thrilled if my kid had to stay home for a week even after he got better. But looking at the CDC recommendations, it's clear that they are recommending students stay home rather than recommending school closures. This is a worldwide pandemic after all and even though the symptoms seem mild in most cases, we know that people have died who had the swine flu. Staying home exposes fewer people.
Swine flu or H1N1 (which is much less catchy) seems to affect people ages 5 to 24 the most. But the first swine flu victim in New Jersey, a 49-year-old man, was confirmed this past Monday. New Jersey now has 320 confirmed cases of swine flu in 19 counties, with an additional 194 probable cases, Commissioner Heather Howard of the Department of Health and Senior Services said, according to nj.com.
As of June 12, there were 17,855 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu in the United States, with 45 deaths. The states reporting the most deaths were New York with 13, California with six, and Arizona and Illinois, both with five, according to nj.com.
Here's what the CDC says about symptoms:
"The symptoms of novel H1N1 flu virus in people are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with this virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting."
They recommend that you prevent being infected by washing hands often with warm water. (I count to 30 but kids can sing the ABC song to wash long enough), covering hands and mouth with a tissue when you sneeze and throwing the tissue away and avoiding exposure to sick people. (Duh!)
As a substitute teacher and mom, I have to say I would hate it if my kids had to stay home with this thing but I would hate it even more if some well-meaning yet badly informed mom exposed my kids to their sick kid. So, pass the Purell please and if your kids sick, turn on the TV and ride it out. This is a bad bug and it might be here for a while.
My friend's son is just getting over the flu. No one can tell her if it's actually the swine flu but he has to stay home from middle school for a full week regardless. Even when his fever is over and he's jumping around the house, he'll still be home playing video games.
He's missing the ice-cream social and the bowling trip and my friend is mad as hell. But this is apparently a policy coming straight from the Centers for Disease Control, so doctors aren't willing to override it.
I sympathize with my friend. I'm sure I would be less than thrilled if my kid had to stay home for a week even after he got better. But looking at the CDC recommendations, it's clear that they are recommending students stay home rather than recommending school closures. This is a worldwide pandemic after all and even though the symptoms seem mild in most cases, we know that people have died who had the swine flu. Staying home exposes fewer people.
Swine flu or H1N1 (which is much less catchy) seems to affect people ages 5 to 24 the most. But the first swine flu victim in New Jersey, a 49-year-old man, was confirmed this past Monday. New Jersey now has 320 confirmed cases of swine flu in 19 counties, with an additional 194 probable cases, Commissioner Heather Howard of the Department of Health and Senior Services said, according to nj.com.
As of June 12, there were 17,855 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu in the United States, with 45 deaths. The states reporting the most deaths were New York with 13, California with six, and Arizona and Illinois, both with five, according to nj.com.
Here's what the CDC says about symptoms:
"The symptoms of novel H1N1 flu virus in people are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with this virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting."
They recommend that you prevent being infected by washing hands often with warm water. (I count to 30 but kids can sing the ABC song to wash long enough), covering hands and mouth with a tissue when you sneeze and throwing the tissue away and avoiding exposure to sick people. (Duh!)
As a substitute teacher and mom, I have to say I would hate it if my kids had to stay home with this thing but I would hate it even more if some well-meaning yet badly informed mom exposed my kids to their sick kid. So, pass the Purell please and if your kids sick, turn on the TV and ride it out. This is a bad bug and it might be here for a while.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Playground Diplomacy
I worked in a kindergarten classroom last week and monitored the kids while they were out on the playground. I was amazed once again to see all the energy, the imagination, the sheer wildness of kids on the playground. Then too, there were the hurt feelings, the tales of names being called and unfairness at the (pint sized) basketball hoop.
So, I was delighted to see that when we got back from the playground, the teacher sat the kids down and asked them to talk about what happened out there. "Did anyone play a different game today?" A couple of kids raised their hands and said they had tried jump rope.
"Did anyone play with someone different today?" A couple of hands shot in the air and the teacher served as judge. "You've played with Amy before though right Adam?" she told one boy. "Oh, you played with David and you've really never played together before? Good for you!"
Then she asked them to talk about any negative experiences. "Was anyone sad or upset by anything on the playground?" One little boy raised his hand. "Billy punched me in the face in the cafeteria," he told the teacher.
"Billy, what do you have to say for yourself?" she demanded. "I didn't punch him. I put my fist on his face and it didn't hurt," the little boy responded. "That's no excuse. You never put your hands on someone else," she told him sternly. "What do you have to say for yourself." "Sorry," he mumbled to the other boy.
I told the teacher how great it was that she asks the kids to talk about what goes on on the playground since so much of their interactions take place out there. "I don't want anything to go underground," she told me. "So it's worth it to me to take 20 minutes every day and talk through what happens out there."
These little people are saving themselves years of therapy bills or at least learning a skill that it takes many people well into adulthood to learn (and that some never learn). I wish other teachers in upper grades, where there's really a lot of playground politics, some of it not so pretty, would follow this smart teacher's example.
So, I was delighted to see that when we got back from the playground, the teacher sat the kids down and asked them to talk about what happened out there. "Did anyone play a different game today?" A couple of kids raised their hands and said they had tried jump rope.
"Did anyone play with someone different today?" A couple of hands shot in the air and the teacher served as judge. "You've played with Amy before though right Adam?" she told one boy. "Oh, you played with David and you've really never played together before? Good for you!"
Then she asked them to talk about any negative experiences. "Was anyone sad or upset by anything on the playground?" One little boy raised his hand. "Billy punched me in the face in the cafeteria," he told the teacher.
"Billy, what do you have to say for yourself?" she demanded. "I didn't punch him. I put my fist on his face and it didn't hurt," the little boy responded. "That's no excuse. You never put your hands on someone else," she told him sternly. "What do you have to say for yourself." "Sorry," he mumbled to the other boy.
I told the teacher how great it was that she asks the kids to talk about what goes on on the playground since so much of their interactions take place out there. "I don't want anything to go underground," she told me. "So it's worth it to me to take 20 minutes every day and talk through what happens out there."
These little people are saving themselves years of therapy bills or at least learning a skill that it takes many people well into adulthood to learn (and that some never learn). I wish other teachers in upper grades, where there's really a lot of playground politics, some of it not so pretty, would follow this smart teacher's example.
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