A Friendly Reminder

Question: Shall Article I (the Bill of Rights) of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to state:

"That only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions.

This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage."?

NO

Now?

Let's see if I figured it out!

So all I have to do is memorize that format code...

I also found a page in the eBlogger help section that told me Safari doesn't support hyperlink-ing in the blogs. Rats.

Blog Linking

I wish I could figure out how to link on my blog. Is it just coding and coding and more coding? Why can't it be like Word and just turn blue when I type a website. Or like AIM and have a nice little shortcut for me. I can't read computer words.

Oh Dear Rummage Sale, My New Best Friend

The Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA is having its famous rummage sale now and I spent the last 2 days after work rummaging. I really feel like I hit the jackpot for my *fingers crossed* own classroom. To most teachers, the loot seemed picked over, but I found oodles of bud vases and baskets and trays and pitchers and bronze and silver pieces and books and a game called Noteability because I couldn't resist. I just picked up things that looked like they would work somewhere in my classroom someday. I know the boxes will grow as the work actually comes together, but this is an exciting start and I can't wait to get it all inside and repack it for storage--yes, I still haven't taken it out of my car. Ah, well.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

www.votenova.org

Or so I hope.

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BALLOT QUESTION NUMBER 1

Question: Shall Article I (the Bill of Rights) of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to state:

"That only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions.

This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage."?

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There are so many things wrong with this proposal...not just the obvious slamming of individual rights. It is rigid and uncompromising and gives many sides of the debate a reason to vote no.

So. Vote.

Ten Reasons to Vote No on November 7th

Vote No if you agree with ANY of the following:

•You believe that the language of the proposed constitutional amendment goes too far in denying legal recognition to all unmarried relationships and not just same-sex relationships.

•You are concerned that the amendment will be read by the courts to bar enforcement of domestic violence laws against unmarried partners.

•You are concerned that the amendment will be used by opposing factions in families seeking to deny unmarried partners of loved ones the right to hospital visitation, to decide about organ donation or burial or to determine guardianship of children or property rights.

•You are a business person or business owner who is concerned that your business will be sued for offering domestic partner benefits or health insurance to other than immediate family members or that you will not be able to attract and retain the best employees because you will not be able to match benefits available elsewhere.

•You believe that civil marriage, as a governmental benefit, should be available to all without discrimination.

•You are a religious leader or member of a faith community concerned that the amendment will prohibit you from celebrating marriages or unions consistent with your faith.

•You are in an unmarried relationship, and you are concerned that the amendment may deny you access to the courts to
enforce legal agreements regarding child custody, property and other arrangements essential to provide stability for your
relationship and your family.

•You believe that it is unnecessary to amend the constitution because Virginia statutes have prohibited same-sex marriages for 30 years and civil unions and other legal agreements between same-sex couples for the last three years without any legal
challenge.

•You believe that marriage should be limited to one man and one woman, and civil unions, domestic partnerships and other
legal agreements between unmarried gay or straight couples should be legal.

•You support full marriage equality.

*From The Commonwealth Coalition website

My name is Ida.

Yup. I don't exist. And neither does my last name, meaning it's "relatively uncommon". No surprise. Ida is 337th of overall first names. Not too shabby.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Thanks Donna!

The Moment of Truth

I am happy to have chosen my work.

I go to bed at night, and even on Sundays, excited to wake up and get to school. (Well, I am excited for the kids to arrive--not wet sponges and make bleach water, but so the cookie crumbles.)

I was recently reading another blog I found by a young woman who is blogging about her first year in a Montessori classroom(there must be a lure for all the geeks out there to turn Montessori). She is mentioning a lot lately about how hard it has been for her. She has been writing about handling the new first-years, especially the newly turned three-year olds. She described a scene in which one of her students had an accident and needs to change. To her dismay, she finds him in the bathroom boggled by another accident on the floor. She describes her reaction, ending in tears as she searches for the cleaning woman in her panicky state of not knowing how to handle it. (waaaait! whaaaaat?! a cleaning woman?! unprepared for a toilet accident?!) I suppose the situation was handled, and to the teacher's credit, she does admit that she was unprepared for the young children and envisioned a class of interested, if not fully normalized, older children.

So this brings me to a conclusion I made recently: All Montessori teachers should spend a year (or at least a good deal of time) in the toddler community.

I need to describe my classroom a little bit and then explain my reasoning.

The Star Room is complete with 4 children who turned three after Labor Day (but before October 1st!). So this means that there are 4 children who have newly become official preschoolers, can no longer call themselves toddlers, but are only a few tiny weeks away from that distinction. For most children in a toddler class, the transition happens comfortably admidst rays of Sunshine, the light of a Moonbeam or the flight of a Butterfly (those are the toddler classes at MSC), so the big change into a three year old, which is hard, hard work, is nurtured in a classroom with familiar materials, friends and teachers. But for my 4 little kiddos, the transition is happening amongst big kindergarteners and sandpaper letters.

Children are resilient and never cease to amaze me, however. Though the big work of spending the day with so many older children, turning three (which, I will continually remind you, is hard, hard work!), and discovering all the tempting work around the classroom, is a lot to juggle, these four children have made the classroom their own.

Looking at the kindergarteners and normalized second-years, I can see how the young first-years seem like they have such a way to go. But, interestingly enough, these children are the ones I am most comfortable with. I am not denying the possibilty that this could be because I am knee-deep in training and feel most confident with the work they are choosing, but I feel I benefitted a great deal from the Sunshine room. (As is obvious from most of my blogging and descriptions of Donna-channeling...)

I can see how a primary teacher might lose her patience or understanding for the very young children when she spends so much time with older children and moveable alphabets and golden beads.

After spending time watching how much growth happens between 2 and 3, I can easily speak to those children without judgment and with patience--ideally I always remember those things.

So every day I am excited to see the young ones. Maybe that's what makes the teachers come back again and again. Falling for the young ones and then getting to see them through to kindergarten...

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