I found out that I am "uninsurable". Meaning that I am considered too high risk to have term insurance put on. At only 22 years of age.
Not exactly a nice part of my day, even though I had sort of anticipated it coming. The wonders of having a heart defect. Through no fault of my own, through a matter of my birth, I am considered 'high risk', despite plenty of other factors that prove that I'm not a risk. Including the words of doctors.
Well...that's life I guess. Doesn't feel great to know that if I get married and have children, I won't be able to have security around for them. Or for my father or sister.
Can't do anything about it I suppose, so I'm going to go and do something I can do, one of the things that makes my life feel fulfilled...getting things ready to teach my Moonbeams Two class tonight.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
Sad sunday
Sometimes, I almost think I feel certain things before they happen. Today I woke up VERY tired even though I slept for 9 hours. Not a great way to start the day. I knew I needed to go down to the university to get started on my research for my Major Area Paper, and to be honest, I was just not wanting to face the church congregation that much today. A great congregation, but I was already feeling closed in and shut down and upset and couldn't really think why except for being so tired when I got up and that it was kind of gloomy and cold out this morning, as compared to yesterday's balmy (for September) 28 degrees! But at least I was able to get my room tidied up a bit, although I moved slower than normal...when things get worse, my usual absolutely clean to a fault room tends to gather things. I just get feeling too tired to deal with anything even if it's as simple as hanging up my clean laundry. Instead it will end up piled on top of my desk or my knitting basket, that type of thing. I did manage to make it down to the university (even with the wonders of sunday public transit), but was in the type of state where I felt like the slightest thing would start me crying. Again, I couldn't understand why.
It wasn't until I got home and got a couple of things done, like moving the filing cabinet from the storage room into my music studio, and scanning and emailing some notes for a classmate in my History of the Soviet Union course that I got a little bit of energy and feeling-human-ness back. I even got myself registered for some of the psychology stuff that is a part of my Intro to Psych course-some research experiments and registering my textbook online for additional resources. Even voted for a fellow student who made it to the top 10 in CBC's "Over the Rainbow" program.
However...I received an email around 11 tonight that made me turn completely back to that emotional state...I wrote earlier that my flute teacher's father, who is the exact same age as my dad, was quite ill, which is why my flute teacher and her husband had been called back to their home province. Well, things had started to look back up and they were scheduled to fly out on friday...but he then took a turn for the worse again, and now the doctors are really giving no hope. Hours to days.
ALL the emotions that I felt with my mom's illness and death are coming back up. I know just how much pain my flute teacher-my friend-is going through. A pain that no one should have to go through. My dad is 63, her dad is 63...
My mom's birthday is coming up very soon too, September 20th. It makes me miss all the more. She would be, SHOULD be turning 56.
Sometimes, in teaching my MYC classes, I miss her. MYC classes were, for YEARS something that my mom and I did together. Five years in fact. Seeing my little Sunshine Ones cuddling up with their moms during class...well...those memories can bring me both joy and sadness. My classes on saturday involved singing a song called "Fingers Dancing"...well, my mom really liked that particular song from the program. Or perhaps we just sang it a lot. Either way...I have memories of her singing it YEARS past my graduation. So, for some reason on this particular saturday it was a little bit triggering. But I obviously couldn't do anything except carry on with my lesson plan and keep on with the class. And the moment passed, but still remains in my brain.
Later today I am going dress shopping with the mom of one of my closest friends from junior high/high school. Dress shopping for a wedding! At least something very positive to put my brain to.
It wasn't until I got home and got a couple of things done, like moving the filing cabinet from the storage room into my music studio, and scanning and emailing some notes for a classmate in my History of the Soviet Union course that I got a little bit of energy and feeling-human-ness back. I even got myself registered for some of the psychology stuff that is a part of my Intro to Psych course-some research experiments and registering my textbook online for additional resources. Even voted for a fellow student who made it to the top 10 in CBC's "Over the Rainbow" program.
However...I received an email around 11 tonight that made me turn completely back to that emotional state...I wrote earlier that my flute teacher's father, who is the exact same age as my dad, was quite ill, which is why my flute teacher and her husband had been called back to their home province. Well, things had started to look back up and they were scheduled to fly out on friday...but he then took a turn for the worse again, and now the doctors are really giving no hope. Hours to days.
ALL the emotions that I felt with my mom's illness and death are coming back up. I know just how much pain my flute teacher-my friend-is going through. A pain that no one should have to go through. My dad is 63, her dad is 63...
My mom's birthday is coming up very soon too, September 20th. It makes me miss all the more. She would be, SHOULD be turning 56.
Sometimes, in teaching my MYC classes, I miss her. MYC classes were, for YEARS something that my mom and I did together. Five years in fact. Seeing my little Sunshine Ones cuddling up with their moms during class...well...those memories can bring me both joy and sadness. My classes on saturday involved singing a song called "Fingers Dancing"...well, my mom really liked that particular song from the program. Or perhaps we just sang it a lot. Either way...I have memories of her singing it YEARS past my graduation. So, for some reason on this particular saturday it was a little bit triggering. But I obviously couldn't do anything except carry on with my lesson plan and keep on with the class. And the moment passed, but still remains in my brain.
Later today I am going dress shopping with the mom of one of my closest friends from junior high/high school. Dress shopping for a wedding! At least something very positive to put my brain to.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Life, I guess
The past few days have been somewhat on the low side of things...just feeling quite down, when I should be feeling up. I think I can understand some of the reasons...like yesterday evening, I got an email from my flute teacher that she had had to fly out back east because her father (same age as my dad, which is perhaps part of why it hits SO close to home) who survived cancer but was left with many health conditions/side effects as a result wasn't doing well at all. So yes, I am feeling that helpless feeling. And that feeling that my dad could easily be taken from me came back into full force. These days, the thought of my dad getting very ill or dying is absolutely heart-wrenching...even more so then when I was young and worried about him. Even more so then when he was not taking care of himself very well and my mom was so, so, so ill (September-ish of 2010).
And then there was just this feeling on my part of this whole lack of self-confidence thing with my teaching this week. Maybe it's just because it's the first week back.
I know that my ICM would say that things might be a bit better if I was at my prescribed dose of seroquel. Well, possibly that's true, but there's the whole issue of the increased sleeping time that comes with adding on seroquel. Even if I just take the slightly-bigger section from when I cut the 100mg tablet in two (with a knife, attempting to make it exactly half as it is not scored), I tend to be more tired in the morning and/or sleep longer. Classes are starting back up, teaching is starting back up...the university system was not designed for a person to need to sleep 9 or 10 hours a night, but that seems to be what my body needs and it drives me crazy. Take today, I slept for about 8 1/2 hours, yet I was still tired when I woke up (after falling back to sleep instantly after shutting off the alarms). The other day with 7 1/2 hours was the same thing, so it's not an issue of 'too much sleep' in the sense that I am sleeping too long and therefore being more tired. It is just so frustrating.
Well, guess I can help one thing...and that is going to bed now...
And then there was just this feeling on my part of this whole lack of self-confidence thing with my teaching this week. Maybe it's just because it's the first week back.
I know that my ICM would say that things might be a bit better if I was at my prescribed dose of seroquel. Well, possibly that's true, but there's the whole issue of the increased sleeping time that comes with adding on seroquel. Even if I just take the slightly-bigger section from when I cut the 100mg tablet in two (with a knife, attempting to make it exactly half as it is not scored), I tend to be more tired in the morning and/or sleep longer. Classes are starting back up, teaching is starting back up...the university system was not designed for a person to need to sleep 9 or 10 hours a night, but that seems to be what my body needs and it drives me crazy. Take today, I slept for about 8 1/2 hours, yet I was still tired when I woke up (after falling back to sleep instantly after shutting off the alarms). The other day with 7 1/2 hours was the same thing, so it's not an issue of 'too much sleep' in the sense that I am sleeping too long and therefore being more tired. It is just so frustrating.
Well, guess I can help one thing...and that is going to bed now...
Thursday, September 6, 2012
First day
Although I don't plan for it to be my last year of university, it's possible that today was the last 'first day' of my academic career. Had a bit of an experience with my History of the Soviet Union course...in a couple of ways I guess. One, having rushed over from the music building to where this course is held, I first had to find the classroom-and I've never had classes in that building before. But the biggest issue was that the instructor before my class had written Espanol 1276 on the board, which certainly confused me a bit. Oh well. The other was the professor himself...one who self-professed that he can be, at times, a grouchy old man. And disorganized. That last bit concerns me a bit!
I got my travel arrangements made-I am flying down to Augusta to see my high school friend C get married on September 29th! Now I have to go to the passport office tomorrow to get that in order. And then dress shopping! Everything really came together in the flights, although the times aren't that great. I wish I could reverse the times...leave my city early in the morning and get in sometime around 12:30 on the friday September 28th, and then leave Augusta at about noon and get into my city at about 8:30 at night on the sunday September 30th. Well, at least I can get down there. It could definitely be worse.
Taught my first ever class of Moonbeams Two tonight, which was pretty good. I think I'm just not feeling confident enough yet. Maybe with the next lesson. And it was the first lesson, it takes a little while for a group to properly 'gel' and all-two students coming from my Moonbeam Two class, and one a transfer student from an MYC teacher who has decided to stop teaching MYC. She's a little bit younger because she started at age 5 in Sunbeams One instead of starting at 7 1/2 in Moonbeams One. I think my coordinator M was right when she said that one of the hardest things you will ever have is a transfer student! It's good that I got her, and I will work to be a good teacher for her, and I guess my feeling of being judged will disappear soon. Because likely, they weren't even judging me that much.
Anyways...after baking both chocolate muffins and easy brownies for my dad's toastmaster group tomorrow I think I am ready to have some red tea and knit while watching MASH or Star Trek. Yep, because I'm cool that way.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Stress? ED? Physiology?
Today was a bit of a stressful day...it started off slightly on the wrong foot because I didn't wake up in time to phone at 9am eastern time (which is earlier for me), so I then was concerned that I wouldn't get the materials for my students that just registered (Two Sunshine One registrations, and one Moonbeams One registration-so four in each class, which is an improvement over last year. Not so sure about the Sunbeams One class, but there is still time to pick up students. Some teachers often pick up the last 1-2 students in each class in September, and you also get to a point where you go "it would be nice to have more students, but I'm too tired to push for anymore right now") ordered in time for their classes that start on saturday. But, the CanadaPost website gave an approximated date of Sept 7th. Which means that YES, they will be here for saturday classes! Then, I received an email from a parent who had registered their two children for Sunshine One and Sunbeams One, but had just received their work schedule, and now saturday classes would not work for them. This was quite unfortunate as one of them was a Sunrise student with me this past year, and I was really looking forward to it. Plus, it leaves me wondering a little bit more about the Sunbeams One class...
Anyways...and then my friend N cancelled our tea meeting because her bloodwork was going to take too long, but we rescheduled to friday. I just hope her bloodwork was okay, given that she frequently ends up with low potassium and has to get special IV fluids for it.
So...stressful part...getting all my job application forms into the University. I felt a bit like a chicken with head cut off, and then there was the Major Area Paper concern, paying university fees, getting my new textbook for my Intro to Psych course...
Ah, Intro to Psychology. If I want to apply into the Music Therapy program, then I have to take an Intro to Psych course, so I registered for one yesterday, snatching up the last spot in that particular course. Wednesdays at 3:30-4:20. Anyways...a first year course. Nearly 300 students. Partially done online. My guess is that out of those 300, only about 150-200 will actually show up most of the time, and of that number, only about half will do the work. I certainly intend to prove that I am a capable, responsible fifth-year university student. From the looks of the textbook and from my social-worker-sister, it's quite likely that this course will be a 'bird' course from me. Well, that is just fine, I guess. I like intellectually challenging courses, but it never hurts to have a course where you get an A+ without really working that hard. My sister said that pretty much all of her marks came from 6 multiple choice tests and 10% participation, "Maybe one assignment". I can do that.
Anyways...schedule was a bit messed up, and my stomach was a bit turned off by food when I had breakfast this morning, so I just had a small peanut butter bran muffin with some peanut butter on top. That was about 10 or 10:30 this morning. I then went down to the university at 12:30 and started my business there. By the time I got home it was after 4pm, and I still hadn't eaten. I was hungry, but then I forgot...
Now, I can tell that my body really does need some fuel, but my stomach feels like it has closed off a bit, meaning that going almost 12 hours on only a small muffin with peanut butter really doesn't work for my digestive system. I've had some water and peppermint tea, and may go and have another small muffin...but the hard part is that ED is starting to act up because of this. A sign that I still need to watch out. See, intellectually I KNOW that I need to eat something. Physically, I can tell that my body isn't meant to run on less than 300 calories for a day. My nails are a bit darker and I can feel my heartbeat more.
I may only have a very mild heart condition, but it still puts additional stress on my body...and with the ticking time bomb that is my heart valve...well...taking the best possible care of myself only makes sense. Of course it makes sense for everyone, but my body has shown that it has a lower threshold for certain things-like heat, cold, lack of sleep, food...that, whether I fight it tooth and nail or accept it and learn to adapt to it, is my reality. And as I was telling my friend B the other day, gently pushing myself seems to work a lot better than fighting my body tooth and nail...
Words to live by.
Anyways...and then my friend N cancelled our tea meeting because her bloodwork was going to take too long, but we rescheduled to friday. I just hope her bloodwork was okay, given that she frequently ends up with low potassium and has to get special IV fluids for it.
So...stressful part...getting all my job application forms into the University. I felt a bit like a chicken with head cut off, and then there was the Major Area Paper concern, paying university fees, getting my new textbook for my Intro to Psych course...
Ah, Intro to Psychology. If I want to apply into the Music Therapy program, then I have to take an Intro to Psych course, so I registered for one yesterday, snatching up the last spot in that particular course. Wednesdays at 3:30-4:20. Anyways...a first year course. Nearly 300 students. Partially done online. My guess is that out of those 300, only about 150-200 will actually show up most of the time, and of that number, only about half will do the work. I certainly intend to prove that I am a capable, responsible fifth-year university student. From the looks of the textbook and from my social-worker-sister, it's quite likely that this course will be a 'bird' course from me. Well, that is just fine, I guess. I like intellectually challenging courses, but it never hurts to have a course where you get an A+ without really working that hard. My sister said that pretty much all of her marks came from 6 multiple choice tests and 10% participation, "Maybe one assignment". I can do that.
Anyways...schedule was a bit messed up, and my stomach was a bit turned off by food when I had breakfast this morning, so I just had a small peanut butter bran muffin with some peanut butter on top. That was about 10 or 10:30 this morning. I then went down to the university at 12:30 and started my business there. By the time I got home it was after 4pm, and I still hadn't eaten. I was hungry, but then I forgot...
Now, I can tell that my body really does need some fuel, but my stomach feels like it has closed off a bit, meaning that going almost 12 hours on only a small muffin with peanut butter really doesn't work for my digestive system. I've had some water and peppermint tea, and may go and have another small muffin...but the hard part is that ED is starting to act up because of this. A sign that I still need to watch out. See, intellectually I KNOW that I need to eat something. Physically, I can tell that my body isn't meant to run on less than 300 calories for a day. My nails are a bit darker and I can feel my heartbeat more.
I may only have a very mild heart condition, but it still puts additional stress on my body...and with the ticking time bomb that is my heart valve...well...taking the best possible care of myself only makes sense. Of course it makes sense for everyone, but my body has shown that it has a lower threshold for certain things-like heat, cold, lack of sleep, food...that, whether I fight it tooth and nail or accept it and learn to adapt to it, is my reality. And as I was telling my friend B the other day, gently pushing myself seems to work a lot better than fighting my body tooth and nail...
Words to live by.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
August Insanity
August...not quite the definition of long, lazy, summer days for me.
The good news: Five registrations this past week. Thank goodness. Two for Sunbeams One, and three for Sunshine One. Which is good, as I had not had any Sunshine One registrations and was a bit concerned! This has definitely put me in an excited-for-fall mood.
Other August insanity has included cleaning. I generally enjoy cleaning and organizing. For the last year or so, my cleaning/organizing has been in crazy spurts. I'll suddenly, almost out of the blue, get this urge to clean for several hours straight. I've had a few of these so far this month. Wednesday was one of them, a kind of miserably cold and rainy August day-not even 20 degrees outside, gloomy to the point of needing lights on at 2pm, and quite heavy rain at times while other times were just drizzly. That was the day that I managed to slice my finger four on an industrial strength staple on a box of my elementary school scrapbooks. Not fun. I also almost dropped a huge box full of various (mostly junk) items that I found on top of the pattern cabinet in the storage room on myself. I had climbed up on a chair and was getting it down, with other boxes and things on the floor below me when I realized that it was not the smartest idea in the world...but I was already too far gone to just stop. Fortunately, no spilling of the box and only mildly bruised knees and strained arms.
The start of August also involved me shipping my flute off to be serviced. UPS just didn't understand my pain at sending my flute off! I spent $187 on shipping because I insured it as far as I could (which was only to $2500 because I listed it as breakable). Thankfully, I got it back today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I realized tonight that I may have missed the grader/marker opportunity this year because I was slow to check it out online. However, I have marked for this prof for two years and out of all the professors at the FoM, she is definitely the most approachable, so I emailed saying that I hadn't seen the position listed (or any for the FoM for that matter) and that I understood that it was probably my own fault for not checking and doing this sooner, but that if it was still a possibility, I had enjoyed the position the past two years and looked forward to the possibility of continuing it in the fall. We'll see. I'll be sad if it's not available anymore, but am surprisingly calm about it...if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. I still have the experience, and may someday have another marking job.
My piano lessons also started up this week. I rode my bike over as I have done on a number of occasions-even since my heart went funny-but really struggled. It was bad enough that a couple of times, I actually got off and walked a little ways. I ended up late to the lesson, and frustrated with myself (not to mention slightly concerned), but at least in one piece. Tonight when I went bike riding things were fine...I did pump up my tires a bit, so maybe that was part of it? Not sure.
Tonight was a bit of a happy/sad night. My good friend SK is leaving for a new city, and then back to bible college on sunday or monday, so this was the last time that I will see her for quite a while. Happy that the move to a new city two provinces away is a good one-her mom got a job after being laid off-but sad to see her go. She was quite concerned about me bike riding over, but it went surprisingly well. My heart cooperated tonight, I guess...even riding over one of the steepest and longest bridges in my city to get to the coffee place was not as difficult as I had anticipated. As I told my friend B tonight online, I guess I have to remember during the bad days (like monday) that there are also good days...and that gently pushing my 'normal' is much more effective and less frustrating then fighting it tooth and nail. Fighting it tooth and nail only seems to make things worse!
In talking online with B, with both mentioned that in our goals for the fall, health goals were among them. I CANNOT do another year like I did this past year. I actually cried-in front of my dad-when I looked at my booklist (where I have kept track of all the books I've read since I was about 10 or 11)...and saw that I had not read a single fun book between January and the end of my exams in April. I had read a few pages here and there of one of my 'Comfort Books', but that was it. For anyone who has known me for more than a few minutes, they know that one of my lifelong pleasures is reading. To not finish any books for the space of more than three months...shows just how messed up I was. I also didn't finish any knitting or crocheting projects, although I knit a bit of a scarf during music festival in early March. I knew that I had been in a bad state mentally and physically...but seeing those lists (book as well as craft) really set it in stone. Never again. If I attempt something like that again, I'll probably end up in a hospital...not just having tests run in a hospital and urgent care.
The good news: Five registrations this past week. Thank goodness. Two for Sunbeams One, and three for Sunshine One. Which is good, as I had not had any Sunshine One registrations and was a bit concerned! This has definitely put me in an excited-for-fall mood.
Other August insanity has included cleaning. I generally enjoy cleaning and organizing. For the last year or so, my cleaning/organizing has been in crazy spurts. I'll suddenly, almost out of the blue, get this urge to clean for several hours straight. I've had a few of these so far this month. Wednesday was one of them, a kind of miserably cold and rainy August day-not even 20 degrees outside, gloomy to the point of needing lights on at 2pm, and quite heavy rain at times while other times were just drizzly. That was the day that I managed to slice my finger four on an industrial strength staple on a box of my elementary school scrapbooks. Not fun. I also almost dropped a huge box full of various (mostly junk) items that I found on top of the pattern cabinet in the storage room on myself. I had climbed up on a chair and was getting it down, with other boxes and things on the floor below me when I realized that it was not the smartest idea in the world...but I was already too far gone to just stop. Fortunately, no spilling of the box and only mildly bruised knees and strained arms.
The start of August also involved me shipping my flute off to be serviced. UPS just didn't understand my pain at sending my flute off! I spent $187 on shipping because I insured it as far as I could (which was only to $2500 because I listed it as breakable). Thankfully, I got it back today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I realized tonight that I may have missed the grader/marker opportunity this year because I was slow to check it out online. However, I have marked for this prof for two years and out of all the professors at the FoM, she is definitely the most approachable, so I emailed saying that I hadn't seen the position listed (or any for the FoM for that matter) and that I understood that it was probably my own fault for not checking and doing this sooner, but that if it was still a possibility, I had enjoyed the position the past two years and looked forward to the possibility of continuing it in the fall. We'll see. I'll be sad if it's not available anymore, but am surprisingly calm about it...if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. I still have the experience, and may someday have another marking job.
My piano lessons also started up this week. I rode my bike over as I have done on a number of occasions-even since my heart went funny-but really struggled. It was bad enough that a couple of times, I actually got off and walked a little ways. I ended up late to the lesson, and frustrated with myself (not to mention slightly concerned), but at least in one piece. Tonight when I went bike riding things were fine...I did pump up my tires a bit, so maybe that was part of it? Not sure.
Tonight was a bit of a happy/sad night. My good friend SK is leaving for a new city, and then back to bible college on sunday or monday, so this was the last time that I will see her for quite a while. Happy that the move to a new city two provinces away is a good one-her mom got a job after being laid off-but sad to see her go. She was quite concerned about me bike riding over, but it went surprisingly well. My heart cooperated tonight, I guess...even riding over one of the steepest and longest bridges in my city to get to the coffee place was not as difficult as I had anticipated. As I told my friend B tonight online, I guess I have to remember during the bad days (like monday) that there are also good days...and that gently pushing my 'normal' is much more effective and less frustrating then fighting it tooth and nail. Fighting it tooth and nail only seems to make things worse!
In talking online with B, with both mentioned that in our goals for the fall, health goals were among them. I CANNOT do another year like I did this past year. I actually cried-in front of my dad-when I looked at my booklist (where I have kept track of all the books I've read since I was about 10 or 11)...and saw that I had not read a single fun book between January and the end of my exams in April. I had read a few pages here and there of one of my 'Comfort Books', but that was it. For anyone who has known me for more than a few minutes, they know that one of my lifelong pleasures is reading. To not finish any books for the space of more than three months...shows just how messed up I was. I also didn't finish any knitting or crocheting projects, although I knit a bit of a scarf during music festival in early March. I knew that I had been in a bad state mentally and physically...but seeing those lists (book as well as craft) really set it in stone. Never again. If I attempt something like that again, I'll probably end up in a hospital...not just having tests run in a hospital and urgent care.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Disillusionment
As I grow older, I unfortunately see more of what is wrong with the world, and how little seems to really work to change it. When it gets late at night, and I am in the least logical time of month, well, it leads to a pretty intense disillusionment with tears.
I think of how women 40, 50 years ago didn't generally have to work outside the home. DO NOT GET ME WRONG ON THIS ONE-working as a stay-at-home-mom, or even just as a house-wife IS work. Now, however, most households are two-earners...yet the standard of living is approximately the same. And women and men are required to work longer hours at work and at home just to survive. This leads to much greater levels of stress, and in turn, health risks.
Don't get me wrong on this either, I am grateful that women are encouraged to be independent and have careers.
What I am getting at is that things have changed. It's not a choice, it's a necessity for many that there are two earners.
I'm of the belief that most children do best when they have a parent stay at home with them until they are of school-age, and do best when, until 10 or 11 (and sometimes even later) there is a parent around when they come home from school.
That doesn't happen much anymore.
Now, kids can do well in daycare, if it is well-run, and the staff are well-trained and caring. The two centres that I have worked at were places that, had I been required to, I would have been 'okay' leaving my child (in the metaphorical sense). The staff were well trained, there was a low turnover rate, and the kids got a lot of physical activity, along with an emphasis on the importance of reading.
But would I have wanted my child to be there, not really. Yes, staff take care of the children, and do the best they can. Children are offered the opportunity to develop friendships with other children.
Some of my main objections to the daycare system include:
-much harder for children to have all necessary 'alone' and 'quiet' time. Children are loud, that is normal...in a house, a child can easily chill out (even in a pretty busy house) in a quiet spot. They can easily daydream in the backyard, or hide out under their bed or under the stairs with a book. It's much harder to escape it when you are in one big room with 4, 6, 8, 10, in a large centre run out of a gym (schoolage in the situation that I worked at) as many as 50 (ish) other people!
-let's just say that the health standards for the food are not what I would put into my child. Again, doing the best that they can...maybe...or perhaps just not educated enough. But the one daycare DID serve bologna to kids. YIKES with a capital WHAT WERE/ARE THEY THINKING?! And the other served hotdogs.
-children were somewhat more regimented and less able to entertain themselves.
-Less able to be individualized...this in my mind is particularly important for children in regards to naps. Some two year olds may be able to give up naps (but most not), sometimes six-year-olds need naps. In the one daycare, yes, children up to age five COULD potentially take a nap if their parents wanted them to, or if staff (depending on parent's requests) felt that they particularly needed one on a given day, but there was a limit as to how many cots could be out in the room at a certain time. In one instance, a little girl who was clearly tired, cranky, and needing a nap had to wait for another child to wake up so that she could go down for a much needed rest. This was for security and safety regulations in the room, and was needed for that purpose, but it is clearly better to be able to offer an individualized nap program for your child! One little boy would ALWAYS fall asleep at about noon, and would sleep until he had to be woken up at 2:30. It was clear upon being awoken that he really did need to sleep for longer, but it wasn't possible in this situation. His parents even mentioned that on the weekends he would sleep longer and still go to bed at a normal 2-year-old time, so it wasn't one of those cases where kids like to get their sleep schedules mixed up and just sleep during the day and be awake during the night.
-Children are introduced to peer pressure at an earlier age. Peer pressure can be both positive and negative at any age. Sometimes, such as in the case of a 2-3 year old class where many are in the process of potty training, this can be helpful. But on the flip side, there can be many negative things that start up that much earlier by having a group of children together most days of the week for several hours at a time.
-Because caregivers in daycares will have anywhere from 3-15 children under their care/charge at any one time (unless they are a 'special' for a child with additional support needs-the new politically correct term) depending on their age and the area where one is located (Where I am, it is 1:4 for children under age 2, 1:6 for two year olds, 1:8 for preschool age (this can include 2 year olds if they are included with children at least 3 years old), 1:10 for kindergarten and 1:15 for school age (6 and over), certain things can and do happen from time to time. Biting between children ages 3 and under is not uncommon, and is sometimes hard to stop, even amongst the most diligent of caregivers. This is less likely to happen if a caregiver has fewer to watch at one time. It still happens...my mom did home daycare when I was little, and one of the children that she cared for, a girl just a few months older than me who I am still in contact with now one day put her hand in my mouth and I bit it. This probably happened when we were around 1 year old. It happens...but in a large daycare, it happens more often.
-Children are sometimes encouraged or required to switch activities when it would seem that all are still enjoying what they are doing. My feeling is that daycares do not really boost the attention spans of children. Now, if it is a matter of sharing, then definitely work out a system to do so. Children do need to learn to share, and the younger the better...but there is a difference between sharing, and being forced to change activities when what the child is doing is learning how to increase their focus, concentration and attention span.
-Because of regulations that are there for a reason (a necessary one), children have less ability to be independent, and are definitely waited on hand a foot a bit more in a daycare. Caregivers have to pour milk for instance, even for the 11 and 12 year olds. I don't know about you, but I was pouring milk for myself at a much earlier age. In fact, the ONLY thing that goes into children's mouths that is NOT measured and handed to a child by a caregiver is water. And even that is only a 'sometimes' thing. It is also not possible for a child who is say, 10 or 11, to go out and ride their bike except on a 'bike day' around the parking lot. This is an example of how being with a parent caregiver provides children with more independence then a daycare. When I was 10 I most definitely was able to ride my bike on my own in the neighbourhood in my boundaries and wearing a watch or carrying a timer so that I would check in every so often (this amount of time increased as I got older-I think it started out at 15 minutes. By about 14, so long as I told when I was going out and wasn't out after dark there was definitely no limits to how long I could be out. I probably didn't really have boundaries then, but did kind of stick to the ones from my younger years. Habits and all).
-It is harder to attach to someone when you have several different staff providing you with care throughout the day. In fact, when one little girl at the first daycare I worked at developed a particularly close relationship with me, it was somewhat discouraged. I think it is there so that when a child moves to a different room, or a teacher leaves, the pain is less. But would you say to a child "Oh, don't grow attached to your mother, father, grandma, aunt...because you might move, or they might die and then you'll have pain" ?
I have more reasons why I do not want my future children to be in daycare someday, especially a large daycare centre, but some of them are harder to write out. My top reason is that it is simply harder to raise your children in the way you really want to raise them when they are not with you for a large percentage of their waking hours. Say I told a daycare centre that I was vegetarian, and raising my children that way and that they also did not drink cow's milk (all things that I intend to do). Very hard for them to follow those guidelines, I would have to bring in separate snacks and soy milk (no almond milk in daycare centres because of the nuts) and they would still frown on it. My friend C's daughter D is 2.5 years old and in the daycare centre at my university. C is not raising D vegetarian, but D will not eat meat at this point, so C figures that she might as well offer vegetarian options alongside still offering D meat choices. The daycare doesn't seem to view something like chickpeas in the same category as chicken, despite the fact that they are in the same food group! Meat AND Alternatives...
And say I felt that my child at age 5 (kindergarten) should still have a nap or quiet time in the afternoon. Most likely, that would not be a possibility, even if it was what they truly needed.
What about movies? Many daycares offer a movie once a week. If I wasn't keen on the movies that they were showing-not because they were harmful, but because they were just plain junk and I felt that my child would be better off colouring, playing with blocks, looking at books, dress-up, just-about-anything-else...well...most likely not an option.
Except in religious daycares that specifically offer a religious basis...my child would not be exposed to any kind of faith during those hours. Not even by a staff member with the same beliefs in private with my child. My parents did not 'force religion down my throat', but offered it in ways throughout the day/night that helped me to grow.
This is just one way that I was feeling disillusioned tonight. That families are struggling so much to maintain a pretty basic lifestyle and that the prospects for change are not looking good. What's next, all children over the age of 8 have to work to help out? In our society with school and the types of jobs that are out there, that is just not possible. When 'helping out' meant helping on the family farm by weeding the vegetable garden with your mother that was one thing, or learning carpentry alongside your father...but it is definitely happening that teens are actually having to drop out of highschool, or take longer to graduate to take on poorly-paying jobs so that their families can pay the bills and keep food on the table. And I wonder where my generation is going to be when we hit 'retirement' age. Can't rely on any care from the government to survive, I'm sure that CPP (Canada Pension Plan) and OAS (Old Age Security) will be completely gone in about 20-25 years, if not sooner. There is a reason that retirement is supposed to come out-it's called the body and brain age to a point where it is not possible to properly perform a job any longer. Yet I see people well over the age of 65 working in places like Wal-Mart (when I dare to venture in), fast-food places and even things like gas stations more and more.
I generally maintain that a relatively simple lifestyle is best. I am more of an experiences person than a things person. I am very happy to spend a lot of my leisure time doing things like baking with a friend, playing an instrument, listening to music and reading a book, or knitting. The vast majority of what I knit leaves the house. Yes, you can argue that my instrument cost me $8000. That is completely true, and I will never deny that. Most of my entertainment comes from relatively inexpensive sources however. I haven't been to see a movie in three years, I don't play video games or online games (those things can rack up prices pretty quickly), I definitely don't gamble or go out for expensive things like water parks, paintball, laser tag etc...
And when it does come down to it, I am now 'paying' probably less than a dollar for each time I pick up my flute (again, this is metaphorically speaking). From the way I've seen things, a lot of electrical equipment probably lasts to about $1 a usage. Things just aren't made to last, and gaming systems certainly seem to break down quickly, or 'need' to be upgraded, along with the games. Although I do buy books, many of the ones are hand-me-downs, and I also frequent my public library and university library system.
I'm disillusioned with politics, and the way things are going. I'm disillusioned that the 99% are struggling more, and the 1% getting wealthier and wealthier. I'm disillusioned that so little seems to be done to care for the planet (even if every person just did one little thing it would be a big help). I'm disillusioned when I hear of violence.
I do try to live with the mantra of changing myself first and foremost because really, that's all I can do...reach out in the ways I can...but I feel so horrible when it seems like nothing ever happens for the better.
If you've actually read to the bottom of this post, congratulations. This was the late-night ramblings of a tearful young woman concerned about her future and more importantly, the future of the planet that we call Earth...
I think of how women 40, 50 years ago didn't generally have to work outside the home. DO NOT GET ME WRONG ON THIS ONE-working as a stay-at-home-mom, or even just as a house-wife IS work. Now, however, most households are two-earners...yet the standard of living is approximately the same. And women and men are required to work longer hours at work and at home just to survive. This leads to much greater levels of stress, and in turn, health risks.
Don't get me wrong on this either, I am grateful that women are encouraged to be independent and have careers.
What I am getting at is that things have changed. It's not a choice, it's a necessity for many that there are two earners.
I'm of the belief that most children do best when they have a parent stay at home with them until they are of school-age, and do best when, until 10 or 11 (and sometimes even later) there is a parent around when they come home from school.
That doesn't happen much anymore.
Now, kids can do well in daycare, if it is well-run, and the staff are well-trained and caring. The two centres that I have worked at were places that, had I been required to, I would have been 'okay' leaving my child (in the metaphorical sense). The staff were well trained, there was a low turnover rate, and the kids got a lot of physical activity, along with an emphasis on the importance of reading.
But would I have wanted my child to be there, not really. Yes, staff take care of the children, and do the best they can. Children are offered the opportunity to develop friendships with other children.
Some of my main objections to the daycare system include:
-much harder for children to have all necessary 'alone' and 'quiet' time. Children are loud, that is normal...in a house, a child can easily chill out (even in a pretty busy house) in a quiet spot. They can easily daydream in the backyard, or hide out under their bed or under the stairs with a book. It's much harder to escape it when you are in one big room with 4, 6, 8, 10, in a large centre run out of a gym (schoolage in the situation that I worked at) as many as 50 (ish) other people!
-let's just say that the health standards for the food are not what I would put into my child. Again, doing the best that they can...maybe...or perhaps just not educated enough. But the one daycare DID serve bologna to kids. YIKES with a capital WHAT WERE/ARE THEY THINKING?! And the other served hotdogs.
-children were somewhat more regimented and less able to entertain themselves.
-Less able to be individualized...this in my mind is particularly important for children in regards to naps. Some two year olds may be able to give up naps (but most not), sometimes six-year-olds need naps. In the one daycare, yes, children up to age five COULD potentially take a nap if their parents wanted them to, or if staff (depending on parent's requests) felt that they particularly needed one on a given day, but there was a limit as to how many cots could be out in the room at a certain time. In one instance, a little girl who was clearly tired, cranky, and needing a nap had to wait for another child to wake up so that she could go down for a much needed rest. This was for security and safety regulations in the room, and was needed for that purpose, but it is clearly better to be able to offer an individualized nap program for your child! One little boy would ALWAYS fall asleep at about noon, and would sleep until he had to be woken up at 2:30. It was clear upon being awoken that he really did need to sleep for longer, but it wasn't possible in this situation. His parents even mentioned that on the weekends he would sleep longer and still go to bed at a normal 2-year-old time, so it wasn't one of those cases where kids like to get their sleep schedules mixed up and just sleep during the day and be awake during the night.
-Children are introduced to peer pressure at an earlier age. Peer pressure can be both positive and negative at any age. Sometimes, such as in the case of a 2-3 year old class where many are in the process of potty training, this can be helpful. But on the flip side, there can be many negative things that start up that much earlier by having a group of children together most days of the week for several hours at a time.
-Because caregivers in daycares will have anywhere from 3-15 children under their care/charge at any one time (unless they are a 'special' for a child with additional support needs-the new politically correct term) depending on their age and the area where one is located (Where I am, it is 1:4 for children under age 2, 1:6 for two year olds, 1:8 for preschool age (this can include 2 year olds if they are included with children at least 3 years old), 1:10 for kindergarten and 1:15 for school age (6 and over), certain things can and do happen from time to time. Biting between children ages 3 and under is not uncommon, and is sometimes hard to stop, even amongst the most diligent of caregivers. This is less likely to happen if a caregiver has fewer to watch at one time. It still happens...my mom did home daycare when I was little, and one of the children that she cared for, a girl just a few months older than me who I am still in contact with now one day put her hand in my mouth and I bit it. This probably happened when we were around 1 year old. It happens...but in a large daycare, it happens more often.
-Children are sometimes encouraged or required to switch activities when it would seem that all are still enjoying what they are doing. My feeling is that daycares do not really boost the attention spans of children. Now, if it is a matter of sharing, then definitely work out a system to do so. Children do need to learn to share, and the younger the better...but there is a difference between sharing, and being forced to change activities when what the child is doing is learning how to increase their focus, concentration and attention span.
-Because of regulations that are there for a reason (a necessary one), children have less ability to be independent, and are definitely waited on hand a foot a bit more in a daycare. Caregivers have to pour milk for instance, even for the 11 and 12 year olds. I don't know about you, but I was pouring milk for myself at a much earlier age. In fact, the ONLY thing that goes into children's mouths that is NOT measured and handed to a child by a caregiver is water. And even that is only a 'sometimes' thing. It is also not possible for a child who is say, 10 or 11, to go out and ride their bike except on a 'bike day' around the parking lot. This is an example of how being with a parent caregiver provides children with more independence then a daycare. When I was 10 I most definitely was able to ride my bike on my own in the neighbourhood in my boundaries and wearing a watch or carrying a timer so that I would check in every so often (this amount of time increased as I got older-I think it started out at 15 minutes. By about 14, so long as I told when I was going out and wasn't out after dark there was definitely no limits to how long I could be out. I probably didn't really have boundaries then, but did kind of stick to the ones from my younger years. Habits and all).
-It is harder to attach to someone when you have several different staff providing you with care throughout the day. In fact, when one little girl at the first daycare I worked at developed a particularly close relationship with me, it was somewhat discouraged. I think it is there so that when a child moves to a different room, or a teacher leaves, the pain is less. But would you say to a child "Oh, don't grow attached to your mother, father, grandma, aunt...because you might move, or they might die and then you'll have pain" ?
I have more reasons why I do not want my future children to be in daycare someday, especially a large daycare centre, but some of them are harder to write out. My top reason is that it is simply harder to raise your children in the way you really want to raise them when they are not with you for a large percentage of their waking hours. Say I told a daycare centre that I was vegetarian, and raising my children that way and that they also did not drink cow's milk (all things that I intend to do). Very hard for them to follow those guidelines, I would have to bring in separate snacks and soy milk (no almond milk in daycare centres because of the nuts) and they would still frown on it. My friend C's daughter D is 2.5 years old and in the daycare centre at my university. C is not raising D vegetarian, but D will not eat meat at this point, so C figures that she might as well offer vegetarian options alongside still offering D meat choices. The daycare doesn't seem to view something like chickpeas in the same category as chicken, despite the fact that they are in the same food group! Meat AND Alternatives...
And say I felt that my child at age 5 (kindergarten) should still have a nap or quiet time in the afternoon. Most likely, that would not be a possibility, even if it was what they truly needed.
What about movies? Many daycares offer a movie once a week. If I wasn't keen on the movies that they were showing-not because they were harmful, but because they were just plain junk and I felt that my child would be better off colouring, playing with blocks, looking at books, dress-up, just-about-anything-else...well...most likely not an option.
Except in religious daycares that specifically offer a religious basis...my child would not be exposed to any kind of faith during those hours. Not even by a staff member with the same beliefs in private with my child. My parents did not 'force religion down my throat', but offered it in ways throughout the day/night that helped me to grow.
This is just one way that I was feeling disillusioned tonight. That families are struggling so much to maintain a pretty basic lifestyle and that the prospects for change are not looking good. What's next, all children over the age of 8 have to work to help out? In our society with school and the types of jobs that are out there, that is just not possible. When 'helping out' meant helping on the family farm by weeding the vegetable garden with your mother that was one thing, or learning carpentry alongside your father...but it is definitely happening that teens are actually having to drop out of highschool, or take longer to graduate to take on poorly-paying jobs so that their families can pay the bills and keep food on the table. And I wonder where my generation is going to be when we hit 'retirement' age. Can't rely on any care from the government to survive, I'm sure that CPP (Canada Pension Plan) and OAS (Old Age Security) will be completely gone in about 20-25 years, if not sooner. There is a reason that retirement is supposed to come out-it's called the body and brain age to a point where it is not possible to properly perform a job any longer. Yet I see people well over the age of 65 working in places like Wal-Mart (when I dare to venture in), fast-food places and even things like gas stations more and more.
I generally maintain that a relatively simple lifestyle is best. I am more of an experiences person than a things person. I am very happy to spend a lot of my leisure time doing things like baking with a friend, playing an instrument, listening to music and reading a book, or knitting. The vast majority of what I knit leaves the house. Yes, you can argue that my instrument cost me $8000. That is completely true, and I will never deny that. Most of my entertainment comes from relatively inexpensive sources however. I haven't been to see a movie in three years, I don't play video games or online games (those things can rack up prices pretty quickly), I definitely don't gamble or go out for expensive things like water parks, paintball, laser tag etc...
And when it does come down to it, I am now 'paying' probably less than a dollar for each time I pick up my flute (again, this is metaphorically speaking). From the way I've seen things, a lot of electrical equipment probably lasts to about $1 a usage. Things just aren't made to last, and gaming systems certainly seem to break down quickly, or 'need' to be upgraded, along with the games. Although I do buy books, many of the ones are hand-me-downs, and I also frequent my public library and university library system.
I'm disillusioned with politics, and the way things are going. I'm disillusioned that the 99% are struggling more, and the 1% getting wealthier and wealthier. I'm disillusioned that so little seems to be done to care for the planet (even if every person just did one little thing it would be a big help). I'm disillusioned when I hear of violence.
I do try to live with the mantra of changing myself first and foremost because really, that's all I can do...reach out in the ways I can...but I feel so horrible when it seems like nothing ever happens for the better.
If you've actually read to the bottom of this post, congratulations. This was the late-night ramblings of a tearful young woman concerned about her future and more importantly, the future of the planet that we call Earth...
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