Sunday, June 28, 2015

Life

I have not posted in this space in 2 years. Life got busy and I stopped writing it down....but lately I have been just wanting an outlet, a place to record, or talk about what has been happening to us.  My boy is still my boy, but he is having a rough time and so is his Mama.

On December 15th 2014 my 8 year old child was shoved into a table and handcuffed by two NYPD officers while attending PS 414, Brooklyn Arbor. This has been traumatic for all of us, but especially for my son.  I am tired this morning and don't feel like writing down the long story, and this is only a sort of public place, but each week seems to bring a new consequence from this event.  When it happened we pulled B out of school immediately, but I was very involved in the school.  I headed up the events committee, I volunteered, I showed up at every event, every PA meeting, every parent teacher conference, his Dad or I volunteered for every single field trip, etc, etc.  As the weather has gotten warmer we have begun to run into other families. I struggle with how to respond to their questions, they only want to know where we went....but what do I tell them? public school is a toxic and dangerous place, and until their is a huge overhaul of the system which concentrates on actual research and best practices instead of a billion dollar curiculim and testing industry; starts remembering that we as a society are responsible not just for reading and writing, but teaching social skills and conflict resolution to our children; stops looking to blame children and starts looking at adults to teach them, it will continue to be so? this seems dramatic, but it is true, and until more parents stop saying it is good enough, what do we expect and start a real revolution in education practices it won't change.

We have also been dealing with the onset of Epilepsy (B) and side effects to medication. On the great front I have a new job that I love! I design little tiny rooms at IKEA. Not only is it my favorite job ever, but it also gives me great health insurance and paid time off, which has made all of what is going on with B doable (along with a GREAT amount of help and support from my family)

Life is what it is, and I believe that this year of struggle will lead to great things.  My son is fantastic and amazing in every way. We are definitely struggling right now, but I wake up every, single morning and look at his face and wouldn't want it any other way.