Monday, August 23, 2010

Hair School.

So my last post was on education! And isn't that funny! I have recently started Cosmetology school!

Getting back into the swing of studying and waking up at 6:00am and sitting in a classroom for 6 hours has been hard, but I am loving the challenge and I am learning so much!

My house was a wreck all last week, but that is due to some redecorating and reorganizing I was doing prior to starting school. Now I am just trying to get everything into it's place again so I can have a much more peaceful week than last.

Gotta love Mondays.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Education & Motherhood.

One of the most insulting things about being a housewife, is being told that I waisted my money or time getting a college degree. First I want to say, education is never a waste of time... ever. There a hundreds of non-profit organization around the world that advocate for women's education. Women in Africa, the middle-east, and India are among the benefactors of such organizations. Do these women seek education to become career women and move away from their village? No. Most of them will stay where they were born and raised while some will go on to be a teacher in the community. Seeking a higher education is never a waste of time. A quote from John Dewey puts it perfectly when he said:

"Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself."

In fact any statement that makes an accusation against women that choose to stay at home after earning a degree, is incredibly ignorant. In addition to that I will point out that only 27% of Americans earn a Bachelor's degree and out of that 27% percent few go on to actually work in a field in which they utilize their degree. I find this interesting, because if a person has a degree in history yet ends up working at an IT company nobody in their right mind would tell that person "Wow, you really wasted your time getting your degree" because that would sound absurd. 

Women who chose to stay at home and raise children are in fact choosing to walk a path that is very thankless. Keeping a home well is not easy, in of itself it is a full time job. Raising children is not easy and it is a task we have taken too lightly in our society, meanwhile any sign of a child with behavioral, emotional, or other problems is put on the shoulders of schools, drug companies and media. It's heart breaking. Raising small children isn't just about sleepless nights, putting someone else's needs before your own, while being thrashed up against the world's impossible standards of "doing it all" - it's a long term investment in the heart and soul of a human being. It is about teaching love and grace while also creating an environment that is safe, secure, and allows that child to grow into a person who is confident, eager and kind. This is not an easy task. This is not something to turn our noses up to, to scoff at, or to abandon. 




Wednesday, August 4, 2010

The New Feminism.

Feminism is not a dirty word, but today it implies so many things few of us would want to identify ourselves as "feminist". Here is an excerpt from a recent article in O magazine written by Gail Collins that I found fascinating. Though I don't agree with every point made, I can applaud and concur with her statement about a "Greater Cause". As women we often spend so much time judging and fighting other women instead of standing beside one another and rallying for the greater good of the world in regards to serious issues that we can ALL agree upon.
"... I know there's a theory that young women aren't interested in this sort of thing, but that's absolutely wrong. Many women do have trouble with the word feminism, but that's been true throughout all of American history, except for about two minutes around 1969. People think it means being anti-man or wearing really unattractive shoes. If we could just change feminism's name to Fred, everything would be fine.....

....Our Great Cause could be absolute zero tolerance for violence against women (refusing a marriage proposal shouldn't be grounds for having acid thrown in your face, and, honestly, what part of "restraining order" do people not get?). Or an end to international slave trafficking for the sex trade. Or equal rights to an education for girls in every country around the globe. Not to mention solutions to the nuclear arms race, global warming, genocide, and all the other challenges that are ours because they're everybody's."

- From "What Gail Collins Thinks The World (and Women) Need Now" by Gail Collins
O, The Oprah Magazine | April 26, 2010



Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Facebook and other Stalking Mechanisms

My rant for the day: Parent's please monitor your children's facebook, myspace, twitter, whatever accounts! It's getting bad out there. Check what picture's they have posted and the conversations they are having with their friends. Today children and tween's are more susceptible then any other generation to predators.

For more information on the seriousness of this issue please go to: http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm