Search Results for: blog dealing with the public perception

Perceptions of Homeschooling: When others think you are doing a bad job

One of the hardest parts of being a homeschooler is dealing with the criticism that goes along with it. Just reading the occasional article or blog makes it clear that by homeschooling people have the perception that we are doing a bad job with my kids. Many of us do try to prove that we are not doing a bad job. We write, we blog, we discuss, we try and try and try to prove to the general public that we are good parents and educators. This approach however is a colossal waste of time. It tends to come across … Continue reading →

Dealing With The Public Perception

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If you have adopted children that do not look like you, you have to learn to ignore some people’s negative reactions. I am writing about the glance that turns into a stare that occasionally turns into a glare. If you are not familiar with my family, my wife and I are 60 and 52 (Nancy’s birthday is today) and white. Our adopted children are ages two through eight and biracial. Even though they are maternal brothers, they show a lot of ethnic diversity. We look like a United Nations group. We live in the country outside of Houston, Texas. I … Continue reading →

ACOG Released a New Opinion on Delayed Cord Clamping

For decades, the prevailing viewpoint among healthcare practitioners was that it was best to cut the umbilical cord within 15 to 20 seconds after a baby was born. A new opinion from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists changes their previous recommendations regarding delayed umbilical cord clamping after birth. The umbilical cord functions as a lifeline between mother and baby. The baby receives oxygen rich blood from his or her mother through the umbilical cord. The umbilical cord is also the baby’s way of removing carbon dioxide and waste products. For decades, health practitioners would clamp the umbilical cord, … Continue reading →

Survey Shows Emotional Impact of Food Allergies

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A new survey reveals the emotional impact of food allergies. The survey asked parents of children who have food allergies about their own feelings in regards to their child’s food allergies. It also asked the parents about their perceptions about how their child feels when dealing with his or her food allergies. A survey was done by FAAN and Galaxy Nutritional Foods. FAAN stands for Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network. They are a non-profit organization that is dedicated to increasing public awareness of food allergy and its consequences, to educate people about the condition, and to advance research on behalf … Continue reading →

Being a Teacher’s Child…

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Teachers are also people. Although the students usually do not believe it, teachers do have a life outside of school. And even though it sometimes feels like it, we do not live there. Teachers have outside interests, friends, and even children of their own. In many cases, the children of teachers will attend the same school that their parents teach at. While this can be an absolutely wonderful experience, it an also get somewhat complicated from time to time. When dealing with younger children it can be hard for them to understand the separation from you being a parent and … Continue reading →

“Bought and Sold”

“Flash Fiction: ‘A Meditation on Voices Lost or Stolen Only to be Bought and Sold Like Chinese Babies’ –page 8” read the Table of Contents. I have heard some pretty weird things about adoption, but this has to be one of the most blatantly callous. The piece was in an independently published magazine I picked up from the rack at our local pool. The story had nothing to do with adoption. It didn’t even mention Chinese babies anywhere in the story, only in the title. The piece was a science-fiction story in which people’s voices could fall out, be tricked … Continue reading →

Funny, and Frustrating, Boy Stories

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Our five adopted boys are growing up in the country. We have several decent creeks and a lot of trees on the property. We have to carefully word everything that we tell them that they can do. Recently, they had permission to go down by the creek which they interpreted as, “Even though it is a cold day, get wet up to your shoulders and be sure to get a lot of mud on your clothes and shoes.” It was not the first time that we have had to completely undress them in the garage and carry them to the … Continue reading →

Getting a Good Reception

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In my last blog, I wrote about putting up with negative views taken by some people when they see all of our family together. There are certain groups of people who usually have a more positive opinion. I have already written several blogs about the positive acceptance that we have seen from a number of African Americans . I have been thrilled by the response of my mother’s friends. When we adopted the boys, I was worried about it. My mother is in her eighties and has lived in the south all of her life. In the fifties, when my … Continue reading →

Relationship Problems

Relationship problems are the easiest to identify in other couples and sometimes hard to even begin to diagnose in your own relationship. The problem in the identification is linked to the level of involvement. In watching a television show about a couple having issues, the viewer is often given an omniscient view of what’s going on with both parties. They can see what ‘happened’ and what was ‘said’ and even how it was ‘misunderstood’ or ‘misrepresented.’ In essence, they are the watcher and their emotional involvement doesn’t color their perception of events because they have the luxury of being a … Continue reading →