The sickness has left the house, or so we hope. Cassidy was fine by Sunday, Daniel's pink eye was fine and treated all weekend. He has finished his course of drops. The last few days have been nice enough to open the windows, so I have! I will do anything to get rid of the bugs that have been plaguing us this ENTIRE winter season.

The school nurse says that the new "school of thought" recommends that kids now get a booster for whooping cough(Pertusiss.)So, I asked the doc when I took Daniel in for the pink eye. His answer was that a recommended booster is now, between the ages of 10 and 14. Kind of like when I was a kid, we were vaccinated against Measles, Mumps, and Rubella. When the kids a few years younger than me went to college, they were exposed to kids from everywhere. Many of them came down with one or all of the three, even though they had received the vaccinations as children. Mystery? I guess that your antibodies or some of them anyhow don't grow with you. I had a booster at 30. The day that I took Daniel home from the hospital. I did it because I was going home to a toddler and bringing an infant into the house. My job exposed me to many, many things, so I thought it a good idea. I guess I was right. I believe in vaccinations. Whole heartedly. I believe that they are a means to HELP rather than Hurt. There are people who don't believe in them for the fact that they are sometimes "artificial." There are people who don't believe in them because they believe that they cause Autism. I always took the chance with my kids, they turned out ok. Besides, without the vaccinations, the kids can't go to school.

The notion of homeschooling really would leave a bad taste in my mouth. I believe that children NEED to go to school. Home schooling is fine for the folks who are really INTO it, but I think that kids need a break. They grow so much by going to school. They learn so much, besides the academics. True, they can learn bad things. They may not learn the family's particular brand of religioius affiliation, or their ethics, or morals, but that can still be taught at home. My religious orientation, affiliation, and my morals don't count in a classroom. The children should be able to walk the walk and talk the talk even when they aren't at home. At home, the foundation is set, they take it out to the world with them.

Hey, how about the new study that Daycare children show bad behavior? That the kids of daycare are more likely to show bad behavior in a classroom setting? What the heck? Most of us don't or didn't have the choice but to work. Where were our children supposed to go when we had to return to work so that the kids could eat and have a roof over their heads??? Maybe if the economy was a lot better more mothers, or fathers, could stay home and raise their children. Both my boys are products of daycare. I took them both out when they were a year shy of Kindergarden, to put them in preschool. The daycare was just that, a babysitting service, and under no obligation to teach them the skills that they needed to learn to prep them for school. We, the parents were told as such by the director of day care and by the second in command of the company that I worked for. So, I decided along with my husband, that pre school was the way to go for that year. Glad I did, yeah, but would it have improved my children's behavior? NO! My kids were the "bitees" not the "biters." My kids were the recipients of the smacks, punches and throwdowns, that the other ones' parents couldn't understand why it happened. Those other kids must have provoked their child. Yeah, right! THere is the root of bad behavior, but just don't get me started on that one. Cassidy didn't go to preschool, and only went to daycare for a short time in her short life. She went as an infant, until we decided that it would be best for me to stay home with her. Then I returned to work, and my friend and also my neighbor watched her before I permanantly left my job. So, I can't judge her behavior against the daycare thing. I do know that her teacher says that she seemed more prepared to go to school than the majority of kids who went to the district's pre school! He said that when things don't go her way, she just rolls with it, moves on and gets over it.

So, there you have it. My take on a few subjects jumping around the old gray matter. Don't know where this came from, but give me a thought and I run with it! Take care for now.

Oh! If you are in the Neighborhood, the RIPTIDE (Daniel's team) WEBSITE, listed in the side bar has the addresses for the yard sale. It promises to be two great days of fundrasing!