One of the reasons I didn’t write this summer is because I was not feeling well and was very tired- so tired I think I could have slept 24/7 and still not gotten enough sleep…that’s right I am pregnant! We are very excited…hoping for a girl but will be happy with whichever comes along. We find out later this month which it is. I can’t wait! :-) 

My youngest had his well-check and he told our pediatrician that he was going to be a big brother. Well then the vaccination issue reared it’s ugly head. See I had put off all the boosters for the kids for a few years now. After researching I just wasn’t sure if I wanted my kids to put all those chemicals in their bodies, knowing how one of my children react to chemicals! So I have only gotten 2 in the last 3 years. One for the oldest so he could go to high school. The other I let the doc fear-force me into getting. It was for the youngest and was just the whooping cough portion of the booster. So at this visit the doc basically said I had to vaccinate (especially with a new baby on the way) or get out—not his exact words but that was the indication behind them. He gave me a book to read about non-vaccinated injuries and sent me on my way. Well I read the book. Funny how most of it didn’t even come close to applying- Such as the woman who has problems because of polio…but she caught it before there was a vaccination- when it was still spreading in the USA. Polio is has been considered eradicated since the 1980s. Or the story about the family who delayed their vaccinations and then went overseas. Or, my favorite, (sarcasm intended) the flu vaccination ones. Yeah like I want to shoot my kids full of mercury so they have a 3/million chance of not getting a flu that in very rare cases causes more than just a mild flu. The flu vaccine is made the year before it is needed. They don’t know which strain is going to be floating around-- they guess! So I go home and start researching again. The stuff I am finding out is ugly! Nasty! The things they put in the vaccines! {Shuddering here} And on top of that there have been some recent studies on how certain chemicals that are in the vaccines effect the brain. I just cannot see how any parent, after reading, researching, and investigating like I have can then say yes I want my kid to have them. Even if you don’t believe the studies of injuries and only see the list of ingredients…that alone would make me not agree to it. 

As I was reading and watching videos about the way it can affect the brain they went into the different injuries or issues you could have that have been linked to the vaccines. I have believed for many months now that that whooping cough vaccine that I let the doc talk me into caused my youngest to suddenly develop asthma. He had never had any signs of it before, has no family history of it, and then a couple months after the vaccine he suddenly has it? Well in the research one of the things linked to vaccines is asthma. Imagine that! It also listed language development as an area of the brain that is damaged. Well when the youngest was much younger he was talking –not necessarily sentences but words. All the sudden he couldn’t talk at all. We had to take him to a specialist who taught him sign language and then worked on verbal skills. She diagnosed him with apraxia.  Basically he couldn’t out the sounds together. At the time I didn’t think anything of it but after watching that video and reading some reports I think it was caused by the vaccine booster he had received. He had been saying full words and some words together and then he goes to not being able to say any words?? Don’t tell me that doesn’t sound suspicious! And on top of that they cause autoimmune related issues and food allergies...guess who had autoimmune issues AND food allergies??? My middle son!

So anyways I am on the lookout for a new doc that will let me make decisions on which or any vaccines to give my kids…know of any good ones?

High school part-time; homeschooling part-time.Hopefully the best of both worlds.

If you have read my previous blogs you are aware of some of the issues we had this last year via the public school. For one of the bullying blogs see the entry in June labeled “(Missing blog summary #1) Bullying in Public school”. What I didn’t mention previously is that we also had issues with some teachers. 

The band teacher went off on the whole class, yelling “Who the hell do you think you all are” and using the s-word (as my kids call it). At the beginning of the year my son couldn’t wait for band because he had wanted lessons forever but we hadn’t been able to afford them. He came home after that and wanted to quit band immediately. He refused to enroll in band for the next year…and he wasn’t the only one. From what I understand 75% of the 8^th grade band refused to take band the next year. It is such a shame that one teacher can ruin a child’s love for a class in such a way. (And yes I went to the school about this but they did nothing. The teacher did apologize to the class but it was too late at that point).

The school’s policy for make-up work is the number of days you missed plus one. So if you missed 2 days of school you have 3 days to get caught up with all your assignments. We had one teacher who did not follow this at all. She expected my son to take 6 tests (voc and spelling) in 3 days! Because she had put him off for so long and it was the end of the grading period so she had to enter a grade for the tests. She also tried to dock him for 2 assignments that he “had to be present the day of to pass” (which is not what the policy says). 

We had another teacher who did not return emails and phone calls for 3 weeks! Literally. Then when she did reply her response was “I didn’t know your email required a response”!! Hello---I only asked about 4 questions in my email! Overall our experience was horrible!

So I was hoping my son would decide to go back to homeschooling. And yes I was leaving that decision up to him. He wants to play soccer and he made the JV team last year. In our area there just isn’t a lot offered for high school age kids as far as competitive sports go. I was willing to fight the school, the bad teachers, and the bullies for another year for him…if he decided he wanted to stay in public school. 

The end of July I get a call from him (he was visiting his grandparents out of state). He had given homeschooling a lot of thought and decided he really wanted to be homeschooled again, but that he wanted a different math program (we were using Saxon, which he HATED)…and then he made an off-handed remark about having more free time to do whatever he wanted to do (such as play his xbox). So I was somewhat excited but the last comment gave me pause. Was he serious about homeschooling or did he just pick it cause he thinks he can play the xbox all the time? Plus I had not looked at ANY curriculum at all! And it was close to the deadline to file with the county that we were homeschooling. So I thought about and talked to some friends. I decided we would go pick his schedule up from the high school. He did not want to do this at all, which really surprised me. I thought he would at least want to go see some friends, say hi, whatever. But he was not happy about going to get that schedule. However I wanted to see what he had been assigned. Imagine my surprise when he had ALL honors classes! Last year I made them put him in honors English. But now he was in honors science and history as well! I guess, even though he didn’t get straight A’s, the teachers must have really liked him and thought he had potential for honors classes. After I got over that shock we looked at his electives. Sure enough he had an engineering class and a technology class (like woodshop but more advanced). I asked him if he wanted to take those classes because that is not something I could easily offer him at home. Of course he did. So we visited the guidance office and then called the school board office and then went back to the guidance office again! After all that run around we finally have him enrolled part-time at the high school. He will be taking the engineering and technology classes, plus a graphic design and geometry class. He agreed to stay in the geometry class because the teacher is the husband of his old tutor. (long story for a different time!) I will be teaching him English/reading, history, and science at home. He will have half a day at the school and half a day at home. :-) I am hoping this will eliminate some of the bullying issues. And so far I like the teachers, especially the one who told me that he would be contacting me. He believes in parent involvement. That just made my day. LOL

Now all I have to do is write an “Intent to Homeschool” letter to the school board office and we will be set for the year….WAIT! I still have to buy his curriculum! Ebay here I come! :-)

Sure, Award the bully! Seriously!

Ok. So I don’t remember if I have told you all about the issues we were having with a particular group that my oldest son is a member in…but basically there is a child who repeatedly bullied my son, along with threatening to break his wrist. This child is also in a leadership position within this group, which makes it double hard for my son. We have had other problems within the group, but that was the main one. So we go to an event last night where they are giving out things that the kids have earned throughout the summer. My son did not want to attend but we felt he should make an appearance. Along with the earned items they gave out some other awards. Guess who got the award of “Scouter of the Year”?!?! The same child who repeatedly bullied my child and threatened to break his wrist!! Seriously! It isn’t like this kid has ever apologized to our son or admitted that he was wrong, or anything! Yet somehow he “earned” this award. Yeah. NOT. In my opinion- bullying another child weighs a lot more than doing a job you weren’t assigned to do. That’s just called helping out…Which any of the kids would have done. The bullying is a more serious offense and it should have made him ineligible for the award.  If they want to award a child whose bad attributes outweigh his good, then this isn’t the group for us. Guess what we are doing next week? Shopping for a different group.

Took the summer off

Sorry Guys-- I took the summer off. We are just too busy during the summer for me to write on here.

(Missing blog #2) Soccer, Broken Collar bone, and spiteful comments

As I was looking at my blog this morning I realized that for some reason some of my posts have either not been published or have been deleted. I am not sure which- either way they aren’t even showing up for me. So here is a summary of some of the posts that are mysteriously missing.

My son broke his collar bone…while playing in a park and rec soccer game. Really we were due for an injury. He has played sports for 10 years and has never had anything more than a sprained ankle or wrist. Plus we haven’t had any ER visits the past year or two…so yeah we were due one. LOL

This is what a broken collarbone looks like:

 

Anyways it was an accident, caused by the way he fell on his shoulder. No big deal. I figure if it was going to happen it would happen- whether it was at rec soccer, school, etc. It didn’t require surgery (Thank God). He got out of school for over a week- which he liked. And he was on light duty for 6 weeks. He was frustrated that they wouldn’t let him play soccer after about the first 2-3 weeks because he felt fine and had even started practicing again (without his doctor’s knowledge).

His coach was not happy. He blamed my son’s injury on the refs’ lack of calling fouls. The game had been getting rougher and rougher- with kids out-right shoving each other and not getting called. Coach says there was a foul right before the injury, that if it had been called my son would never have broken his collar bone. He was also upset that the center ref didn’t immediately pause the game- or even notice that K was injured until our coach started yelling at him. I agree that the game was getting very rough.

Fast forward to the next week. We weren’t at the game. We had planned to be there, even though he couldn’t play, but we had over-slept. Coach confronted one of the board members about the reffing the week before. She replied that my son was an “out of control player” and the injury was his own fault!! Seriously?? This from a woman whose own son has been red carded and thrown out of games?? My son has only ever received a yellow card about 3 times (one of which was the game before he got injured). Plus her husband obviously doesn’t feel the same way since he picked my son to play on his JV team! I was ticked!!

 During this game 2 teammates received injuries. Again there was a delay in the calling and no fouls. Coach yelled (from all accounts he did not cuss, etc just a very loud in-your-face kind of yelling.) at the ref again for not making calls and for injuring his players. He was kicked out of the game and suspended for a week. The game had to be forfeited as we didn’t have an assistant coach.

The next week they postponed the games due to a lack of senior refs. (Because they had had so many injuries that they needed an adult ref at all this age division's games and none were available)

So once I learned the response of the board member (later that 2nd week) we decided that since she couldn’t keep her mouth shut the soccer association was going to pay for his medical bills. We hadn't been worried about it. Our insurance had covered most of the cost. But when our insurance sends us a letter asking if the injury was from an accident (as they do with most ER visits) I will be telling them who to send that bill too (i.e. the soccer association). And the soccer association will be repaying me for my co-pays- we are out about $170 as of right now. I am still waiting for resolution of the ambulance bill….which I didn’t even know they charged! We received that in the mail about 3 weeks after his injury. It was for about $500! They didn’t do anything other than drive him to the ER because the soccer medic had already stabilized his arm!

Yes that is vengeful but I am tired of the snide “I’m better than you” comments from this particular board member. This is the 2^nd time in a year that we have had issues with her. She is one of the reasons that I won’t join the board- even though I have been asked repeatedly. She has been on the board for at least 7-8 year…she may have actually been on there when K first joined 10 years ago! It is time for her to go!! I feel if the board wants to keep her then they can pay for her comments. Spiteful- yes. But so satisfying. :-)

 

(Missing blog summary #1) Bullying in Public school

As I was looking at my blog this morning I realized that for some reason some of my posts have either not been published or have been deleted. I am not sure which- either way they aren’t even showing up for me. So here is a summary of some of the posts that are mysteriously missing.

My oldest started public school this past year. I found out in the middle of Nov that he was being bullied…by someone we knew. This bully is involved in just about everything we do too. He is a yes/no sir kid to your face but if you keep watching him (and he doesn’t know it) you will hear him say/do things that just don’t seem right. So I let it go- they are at the age where it is a power struggle thing. I let it go until the first weekend in Dec when the kid threatened (in front of several kids and on school camera- since they tape everything!) to break my son’s wrist. He had injured his wrist in wrestling and had it taped. After that I went to the coach, teachers, and Scout leader. The coach blew it off, said he would have a talk with BOTH my son and the bully (which I was pissed about). But I don’t think he ever did. The teachers were surprised (remember I said he was a yes/no sir kid) but said they would keep an eye out. The Scout leader said that sometimes power goes to a kid’s head when they become a leader (he was a senior patrol leader in the troop) and they would have a meeting with him and discuss what being a leader means, etc.

Then my son broke his collar bone during a soccer game. (a whole other blog) The first thing he said after the pain went down was that he couldn’t return to school because “the kids already mess with him. What would they do to him now that he had a broken bone.” I was furious! At both the school and him. He hadn’t said anything lately about kids bullying him so how was I to know? And the teachers were suppose to be watching for this – they knew what was going on! So I had a conversation with the assistant principal about the safety of my son and kept him out of school for over a week. The assistant principal seemed shocked that anything was going on. I told him if my son gets injured or touched in any way once he returned to school he would hear from my lawyer BEFORE he heard from me. I will no longer put up with the bullying!

The kids get away with bullying because there is no REAL punishment unless they physically harm someone or damage property. My son informed me that he can’t tell because the teachers don’t listen and it gets worse when he does say anything. These bullies get their hands slapped and then get sent back to class to make life even worse for kid being bullied. So much for the “No Bullying Policy”.

Yep Food Allergy Issues Again...we have to go through this again!

(Ignore the hyphenated links- I didn't put them in there. Don't click on them - they are just spam)

Remember my issues with gluten free food and camp last year? If not here it is: http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8805802396615111471#editor/target=post;postID=7575027716423073464;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=11;src=postname
 Hopefully that takes you to the right place- if not it was published last July (2012).

So we had issues last year with the camp cook cooking my son's gluten-free food. Guess what?!?! We are having the same issues again this year!!!!!!! I have been so ticked off this week that I haven't been able to post. Here's what happened.

I emailed the camp cook (same as last year - unfortunately) and camp director (also same as last year). Here is an abbreviated version of my email.

Hi,
I need a menu of Cub Scout Resident Camp (2nd week) emailed to me.
My son, Pack xxx, has a raw carrot and gluten allergy. He is a Webelos so he will be there for the whole week. I will provide a revised menu (based on the menu you provide) with what he is allowed to eat and the substitutions that I have sent in place of what he isn't allowed to eat. He will bring 2 copies of the revised menu (1 for himself and 1 for you) and his gluten-free food with him when he checks in. If you need more than 1 copy of the revised menu let me know. Some of the food will need to be frozen or refrigerated until used. It will all be labeled with his name, Pack #, preparation directions, and the day/meal when he is to eat it.
I will be there on Fri June xx . If you could have the binder with the ingredients available on that Friday I will look up the items I have questions about.  Please send me the menu as soon as possible so I have a chance to look over it.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me via the info below or when I am at camp on Friday June xx.

We have other children in our Pack with food allergies. I will pass the menu on to them. Should they use the same emails to contact you with their specific allergies, alternative food, etc? Or is there another process with additional paperwork we need to fill out?

This is the exact response I got from the camp cook:

"Menu is attached. Who will be helping your son prepare his special meals. We are able to lend some assistance, but a leader or your son will have to take responsibility. Bill."

I could not believe it! We were going to go through this again?!?!?!

My response: (My husband assures me that ALCON means All Concerned. LOL)

"ALCON,
We feel that response is not acceptable since earlier this year Rxxxxxx Xxxxxx had already assured me that we would not have the same issues as we had last year. I am not asking for a reduced rate (due to us providing his food), that you change your menu for him, provide food that he is able to eat, or even that you have an allergen-safe prep area in the kitchen. All we are asking is that you accommodate him by having an area to store his food (which seemed to be an issue last year) and have someone to heat it (mainly microwave). You seem to be asking that we pay an additional camp fee for someone to be on call to cook his meals, or inconvenience one of his leaders by forcing them to fix his food, or make him responsible for his own food. While we don’t disagree that at some point he needs to be responsible for his own food, this is Cub Scouts- not Boy Scouts. I am not sure he needs to be responsible for preparing/cooking his own food in an unfamiliar kitchen with unfamiliar appliances. I am positive you do not want a dirt loving, unsupervised kid in your clean kitchen, due to obvious sanitary reasons.

A little history:
Two years ago we did not have any problems. I met with the cook and Dxxx “nickname” about 2 weeks before camp. We went over the menu, made an alternative menu for my son, and the cook even changed some things - such as serving the spaghetti noodles separate from the sauce so all I had to do was send in the gluten free noodles to be cooked. She or someone on staff cooked his food. As far as I know there weren’t any issues.

Last year there was an issue with everything. I asked for the menu well in advanced. I asked a few specific questions (such as if the potatoes and eggs were box or real) via email to the cook - to which I received no response until I contacted some additional people. I finally received a response the day before my son was to report to name of camp stating that I needed to come to camp and look in a book to check for allergens. I would have been glad to do this had I been previously informed. Upon arrival to camp, I was informed that I needed to provide a cooler for his cold food and a box for all his other food. I was also informed (very rudely) that I would need to report to the kitchen about 15 minutes before meals to prepare everything for him. Again, I was not informed beforehand. I was not there as his parent. I was there as a leader for my younger son. In the end I believe Rxxxxx Xxxxxxx assisted with most of his meals, while I prepared one or two meals when Rxxxxx was busy. During my preparations I noticed that he was not even listed on the allergen board in the kitchen!

After our experience last year I spoke to several people about setting up reasonable procedures for the name of camp cafeteria regarding food allergic scouts; hoping that we wouldn’t have the same issue this year. I was told the issue was discussed and handled at a camp planning meeting in September, which I was unable to attend due to a conflicting schedule with our Pack. When I spoke to Rxxxxxx Xxxxxx at the University of Scouting he assured me this issue was resolved. He also mentioned that name of camp plans to have gluten free cereals available and to serve a gluten free dinner. He also assured me that there would be someone to prepare my son’s meals.

As previously mentioned we feel your response is not acceptable. His doctor believes that it is necessary for him to stay on a gluten free diet. Again we are not asking for any special accommodations, other than someone to prepare (mainly microwave) his food. If you are unable to accommodate this request, please let me know as soon as possible."

The next email came from the camp director:

"we will certainly have someone there to assist your son. The issue is this. We have a floating kitchen staff meaning the same people are not cooking every meal. So it might be a bit confusing. So during those meals that he needs assistance please have him come to the door with a leader to let them know. Ask to speak to Jxxxxxxx. I'm sure we can work it out! He can always find myself or Wxxx Cxxxx to help him as well.
Rest assured we will take good care of him!"

While I am glad they more or less said they would fix his meals I am not completely happy with the response. First- if you have a "floating kitchen staff" then why is he to always ask for Jxxxxxxx? If she is going to be in the kitchen at all times why can't she just fix what he needs fixed? Second-It seems like they are saying that he will have to go ask them to fix his food every meal, after he has arrived for his meal. Meaning that everyone else will be eating and he will have to wait. They need to rethink this since almost ever meal he needs something replaced. Every meal he will have to wait at least 5-10minutes before he gets all his food? They have a limited amount of time to eat. If he is waiting 10 minutes for his food then that leaves him with very little time to actually eat it...especially since he will have to wait for it to cool as it will be too hot to eat immediately. I guess I will find out what happens when we get there. But they have to put something more permanent in place since food allergies are becoming more of an issue with kids. Guess this will be my next project...going to all the meetings and lobbying for the rights of kids with food allergies. :-(

More Scout stuff

I recently read this and agree.
"We grieve today, not because we are faced with leaving Scouting, but because the Boy Scouts of America has left us. Its leadership has turned it's back on 103 years of abiding by a mission to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices".

Boy Scout Policy Change

I know this post will probably receive lots of nasty comments but remember these are my views, not yours.

It is a sad day today. The Boy Scouts of America caved to public pressure and money. It is a shame that such a great organization, in which we have become very heavily involved, chose to ignore the wants/views of it’s members and listened instead to the voices of a few and to the threats of withdrawal of money from a few corporations. I wonder what the outcome will be. How many boys/ leaders/ families will leave because of this? I bet more leave due to this decision than join. Locally we had several sponsor organizations, packs, and very involved adults (who if they left would cause some programming to not be available) say that if this was passed they would be leaving the Boy Scouts. I think this will have a bigger fallout then most people think.

My personal feelings are mixed. I was raised in a very conservative religious group. I was taught being homosexual is a sin. When I asked my friends of other religions what their church’s views were, they all told me basically the same thing (no matter what religion)- the church is open to all people, including those who claim to be homosexual. It is not a sin to claim to be homosexual; however it is a sin to act upon it. Who knows- maybe that is what the religion of my youth taught…to me it is one and the same. My religious views may differ from yours but I still believe it is a sin.

When I first heard of the Venturing program I was very excited. I thought it was great that girls were allowed in the Boy Scout program, especially since I know a lot of families who have boys in Boy Scouts but refuse to put their girls in Girl Scouts (due to their changes in policy/views). But the more I learned about the issues within the venturing group the more I don’t support it. There are so many issues that revolve around the fact that you have BOTH boys and girls in the same group. I am sure you can guess those issues without me going into a lot of details. It just isn’t a good combination.  I feel the same with this new policy. It isn’t a good combination.

My upmost concern is for the safety of my children. I fear that changing this policy changes that safety factor. My older son will no longer feel safe. He will have to constantly be on guard. People may say I am over-reacting or being judgmental, etc… but look at the Venturing issues. One of the main issues is the sex factor- flirting, touching, sex. Does gender make a difference? I am being realistic here. If a boy is homosexual…then doesn’t it make sense that if he finds a boy he likes in his Scouting group he will “hit” on him? Just as if a boy is “straight” and finds a girl he likes in his Venturing group he will “hit” on her. Why should my son have to worry about this? At one of the policy information meetings we attended someone stood up in support of this policy and said that we were worrying too much, that most boys already socialized with kids who claimed to be homosexual at school. My response is that is: 1. My son doesn’t go to their house; they don’t come to his. 2. He doesn’t spend time outside of school with them. In other words he doesn’t go camping with them. Now he will be forced to. Yes forced.

I also believe that by passing this policy (yes to homosexual youth, no to homosexual adults) they will be forced to revisit this issue again in the near future…and change it again, this time to include homosexual adults. Because if they say it is ok for youth to be homosexual, what happens when those youth become adults and want to help lead their Troop? Can the Boy Scouts then say “No you cannot become a leader because of your sexual orientation”? I doubt it. So then I will have people, who believe they are homosexuals and who possible will put their views out there, influencing my child. I do not want another adult (who my son will look up to) telling my son that it is ok to be gay when I am telling him it isn’t. Why should my child be exposed to this?

I am sure there will be a group formed because of this policy… just as the American Girls came to be because of the liberal policies of Girl Scouts. The thing is- Boy Scouts was a perfect fit for our family. While I was raised very strict conservative religious with church being the center of my life, my husband was not raised in church. They visited churches but never regularly or enough to make an impact in his life. He does not like churches. He does believe in God but says there is too much politics and money issues in church organizations. So Scouts was perfect: a little bit religious without being overly religious, it didn’t really force religion down your throat but still made you think about it. This is why Royal Rangers or other similar religious groups will not work for our family. The new group will have to be the same basic program for us to be involved. I am not sure that will happen. I think that it will become more religious than what my husband will be willing to deal with, particularly since it will be mainly supported by churches.

I believe this new policy violates the Scout Law and Oath. How can someone do their “duty to God” and be “Reverent” if according to their religion the Boy Scout policy is going against God, the Bible, or their religious teachings?   

While I do teach my children to be kind to all people, I also teach them to stand up for something they believe in…or don’t believe in. So while they can be kind to kids who believe they are homosexual they don’t have to agree with their lifestyle.

How can I continue with an organization that just passed a policy that I believe is wrong? Why must I deny MY “duty to God”? What am I teaching my children if I continue to support a group that goes against my beliefs? I am not sure what our decision as a family will be…it will depend on a few things…the first of which is will our Pack/Troop still be there? Will our sponsored organizations (both churches) continue their support? My oldest is only 6 months away from receiving his Eagle. That would be before the policy goes into effect so he may just get his Eagle and then get out. I also want to see what organization pops up for all those who are leaving Scouts…maybe that group will meet our needs better. Only the future can tell.

 Scout Oath:

On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

Scout Law:

A Scout is:

• Trustworthy,
• Loyal,
• Helpful,
• Friendly,
• Courteous,
• Kind,
• Obedient,
• Cheerful,
• Thrifty,
• Brave,
• Clean,
• and Reverent.