So, I wrote a blog the other day about how I couldn’t figure out my certificate situation. Well isn’t it sad that I went over the entire school district’s head to the certification lady at the STATE board of education, and she answered everything I needed to know and helped me!!! Turns out I don’t need to take ANY Praxis exams, and that all I have to do is turn in an application and my old ACT scores. I made a high enough score on the ACT to not have to take the PreProfessional Skills Test, and I had enough hours in Early Childhood to not have to take that exam, so I pretty much got out of every test I had registered for, so now i’ve got to cancel tests because I couldn’t get a straight answer until yesterday when I just talked to this lady!!! I’m SO excited about this, because I know that it will make my life easier than having to stress about passing this test.

In other news, tonight was another night of the PrimeTime program, and I absolutely love it. Now there is one part that really aggravates me, and I know that Amber knows I’m going to write about it because she was the one who witnessed it. We get door prizes donated to us, and some of them have been fairly large (like the two LAPTOPS at the end), but some of them are smaller-they are what they are. Well tonight we had a grandparent say “Well they sure do get smaller and smaller every week” after she saw what we were giving away tonight, and criticized one of the gifts because it was for a man. Well, we get what we get, and something is better than nothing. In all actuality, the first name we drew out of the pot tonight came right up and picked the MAN’s gift-it was a family with three boys, one who is an older teenager, and I’m sure that is something they can use. Just because you don’t want something doesn’t mean that someone else might not. And the program is not about the meals, it’s not about the door prizes-it’s about developing literacy skills with your children, and if she missed out on that….then that’s her loss. I just hate that people are so picky that they can’t even appreciate something that is free to them. Then I was talking to one of the storytellers afterwards. She was talking with me about how controversial one of the books was because it brought up the subject of killing things-it was a story called Lon Po Po, and in the book a wolf was killed because it was going to attack the children. The storyteller asked the group if that was ever ok to do that, and if they thought that it was ok to kill an animal or a human being if it was attacking your family. This was not a question trying to put thoughts into children’s heads, but instead to help them to figure out and think these things out for themselves. She told me about one person who was adamant that you do not ever kill anything, even if you feel in danger, and you NEVER teach your children to do so either. She was furious that we were even discussing it. I understand being strong in your beliefs, and I know that some people believe that you should never harm animals, and some people believe it’s ok, but she was furious that others did not believe what she believed. Another parent, who has been through the ringer and in some tough circumstances, told of how she would do it if it meant protecting her child. The other person did not budge, and there were questions about whether or not she would even come back to storytime. Well, when I asked the Storyteller to describe who it was that said that, she described her—Lo and Behold, it was the same grouch who was hating on our door prizes!!!! Ahhh, some people-set in their ways and refuse to budge. So that’s not surprising to me at all and it actually helped to know that she is just that kind of person to everyone. But on a positive note, I’ve had two families so far tell me that this program has changed their child’s whole perception on reading, and that they now think it’s cool and want to do it more at home. Some have told me that they are seeing improvements even in their child’s school grades, and that just makes me realize that the people who are grumpy and pessimistic and negative don’t even have an impact because it’s those few children who ARE getting something out of it that matter. It’s what you make of it-and I love knowing that these parents are taking time from busy, hectic schedules-and nights when they could go home and put their feet up after work, to come to this program with and FOR their children and their family. That moves me.

OK, enough ranting for tonight!!! Off to relax and put my feet up Night everyone!!