The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[Figgy1]

I've got bad ligaments in my ankles, which is genetic; my mom and grandfather both have the same issues. My allergist said I have to be careful because the oral steroids that I had to take as a teenager (which we had no choice on; they were because my asthma at the time was so severe) could have contributed to it, but that I also might just have bad ligaments.

Sympathy like.

 

[spacemt354]

Sympathy like.

^ Same

 

[spacemt354]

Sympathy like same here icky and 67

Yeah not great here either today

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

School is done for the year and it is now beer o'clock! Yahoo!!!!! Sorry, it's been a tough year in our district.

 

[Gabe1]

We turn the kids loose too, but also have them check in at lunch time. Everyone has always shown up too.

I think in ten years we only had an issue with one trip and it was limited to 2 students. They wanted to ride a particular rollercoaster and it was departure check-in time. They had staff looking in the park for over an hour for those 2. Hard pressed to spot anyone in a line. So everyone including the bus drivers had to wait until they were ready to go home. While beyond annoying and they didn't get to attend the 8th grade dance (haha) our principal over reacted also. He brought to the board that this trip will never happen again to Six Flags. Punishing future students for the deeds of 2 students that no longer would even attend that school was beyond ridiculous.

 

[Songbird76]

I guess it's a love it or hate it type of thing. The place I go has massage chairs and I know exactly what setting works for me besides my toes are in flip flops all summer and I don't need to scare small children with icky feet I also have and have always had thin nails. THNX mom, grandma and so on and so on. I have gel overlay on my nails so I can have a bit of nail

Yeah, my best friend has regular appointments....she LOVES it. That's what she does with her girls for birthdays and things, but the leg massage part of the pedi was so incredibly painful to me I just wanted to scream "STOOOOOP!!" The mani wasn't bad I guess...I had that for my wedding, but I had broken 3 nails and so she added tips to those 3 and I could NOT get them off after the wedding. I soaked them in polish remover and they just wouldn't budge. And they just felt so weird....I'd never had fake nails or tips before. I just do my own nails now and don't have to worry about removing tips, or painful massages, or paying beaucoup bucks to have it done for me.

 

[Gabe1]

Good grief, this is beyond pathetic. As I see it, this is a trend toward (some) people becoming more and more selfish. What ever happened to people being gracious about the fact that perhaps they, themselves, could not indulge in (for example) ice cream, or other foods--yet, being generous enough to be happy for others? I think the comment that disgusted me the most was when provisions were made to include some alternative foods, and yet some people felt they were being labelled 'different'? OH PLEASE . . . !!!

I wish that the picnics went on, regardless, as it sounds to me that the majority of people had no issues at all and wanted to have a good time. The problem is that the people who want to spoil everything for others are winning these types of battles, and it's infuriating. However, I figure that in our litigious society, your school system had no choice but to shut this down.

Our building administrators are all over-reactors and lack problem solving skills. All three have their doctorates so you'd think those skills would be refined.

In the 3 elementary buildings we do not serve meals, not until high school which is another district. Our PTO does an every other week hot take out for lunch, pre-order optional hot lunch catered in by local restaurants. This one week it was jumbo pizza slices. The local place brings in staff very early as it takes a long time to make pizzas for a couple hundred students/staff by lunchtime. As the story goes there had been a recall on some fresh sausage and the owner set it aside for supplier pick up. The staff accidently used that sausage (language barrier a real accident) however the pizza was already delivered, served and eaten. The owner a couple hours later called the school and immediately told them what had occurred. Orders had to be gone through to see who got the sausage pizzas, staff and students. Parents of those sausage eaters had to be called and warned what to look for and what to do if...then the restaurant and school had to notify the board of health. It was hectic. Ultimately not one person became ill. Amen. Next board meeting was PTO protesting the blanket cancelling of hot lunches forever-never to be reinstated by administrators. We tabled the conversation to put some thought into it and asked both sides to work together which they remained polar opposites. The board had time to think about it and deemed it was a tradition and a fundraiser that been around for a couple decades without incident and that this type of thing was indeed an error but likely not to be close to a norm so we ruled in favor of the PTO. Then we had the administrators mad at us because the board didn't respect their administrative decisions.

 

[Songbird76]

Good grief, this is beyond pathetic. As I see it, this is a trend toward (some) people becoming more and more selfish. What ever happened to people being gracious about the fact that perhaps they, themselves, could not indulge in (for example) ice cream, or other foods--yet, being generous enough to be happy for others? I think the comment that disgusted me the most was when provisions were made to include some alternative foods, and yet some people felt they were being labelled 'different'? OH PLEASE . . . !!!

I wish that the picnics went on, regardless, as it sounds to me that the majority of people had no issues at all and wanted to have a good time. The problem is that the people who want to spoil everything for others are winning these types of battles, and it's infuriating. However, I figure that in our litigious society, your school system had no choice but to shut this down.

It makes me wonder what is going to happen to those kids when they grow up and can't dictate to everyone else what they will wear or what they will eat. Like...we have a large Muslim population here. My neighbors on both sides are Muslim, DD has a few Muslim friends at school, I work with some Muslims. When Ramadan rolls around, the non-muslims go ahead and have a snack at breaktime or lunch and the Muslims just sit down with us. There's no "You can't eat because it's not fair to us that we can't." or "Sorry, but I don't want your ham sandwich anywhere near me." And a person with peanut allergies just doesn't eat a peanut butter sandwich. But there are no restrictions on what people can and can't eat. It blows my mind that a child isn't allowed to bring a peanut butter sandwich for lunch because someone ELSE'S child has an allergy. If it's that severe of an allergy, can you go ANYWHERE? How will they ever be able to go to the grocery store where there are inevitably peanut products? Or to a baseball game? Just let me feed my kid what works for us, and you do the same. Back in college, we had a course in special education, IEPs, etc..the teacher said "Everyone thinks 'fair' means all the kids having the same thing. But that's not fair. 'Fair' is every kid having what they need to be successful. One kid might need headphones to block out the noise that doesn't bother another kid. Fair does not mean every kid has a pair of headphones. It means every kid who NEEDS them, has them available to use. One kid might need insulin. Fair doesn't mean every kid having insulin. It means the kids who need it have access to it." As long as there were alternatives for people with allergies or religious beliefs, it should be fine. So sad that it gets blown up to a huge deal.

 

[Gabe1]

Well, I'm glad it's not just me who thinks this is completely insane!!

I thought more about little kids being turned loose in an amusement park...I feel badly for the amusement park. What a liability for them. The waterpark my DD still manages part time during the summer has changed their camp visitor rules in their contracts with their field trips.
Now the have strict quotas of camper to counselor and that the counselor must be in the water with their campers, also must travel as a counselor/camper unit from area to area of the park. They were having problems with the summer counselors just parking it on a lounge chair and not supervising their campers and they all have very different swimming skills, some with none at all.

The problem is the law for ratio for camps/daycare is age driven, the older they are the higher the number per counselor. That doesn't work around water and lifeguards are not babysitters responsible for their behavior, their job is to watch the water for emergencies. They have now implemented their own ratio and supervision rules for this season. We shall see if that helps.

 

[Gabe1]

My mom was quite a woman. It was what was available. I remember when I was probably about 4, maybe 5, when we were still living on the ranch, I was outside playing and there was a rattlesnake in the sandbox. I was in the tire swing, and my mom made me go inside and then she and dad both went out with pistols and shot the snake. She was pretty used to killing rattlers by the time I touched the one. When you live out in the country, it's par for the course.

Indeed she was quite a woman. It does remind you of how different we are from region to region in this country of ours. Impressive.

 

[Gabe1]

It makes me wonder what is going to happen to those kids when they grow up and can't dictate to everyone else what they will wear or what they will eat. Like...we have a large Muslim population here. My neighbors on both sides are Muslim, DD has a few Muslim friends at school, I work with some Muslims. When Ramadan rolls around, the non-muslims go ahead and have a snack at breaktime or lunch and the Muslims just sit down with us. There's no "You can't eat because it's not fair to us that we can't." or "Sorry, but I don't want your ham sandwich anywhere near me." And a person with peanut allergies just doesn't eat a peanut butter sandwich. But there are no restrictions on what people can and can't eat. It blows my mind that a child isn't allowed to bring a peanut butter sandwich for lunch because someone ELSE'S child has an allergy. If it's that severe of an allergy, can you go ANYWHERE? How will they ever be able to go to the grocery store where there are inevitably peanut products? Or to a baseball game? Just let me feed my kid what works for us, and you do the same. Back in college, we had a course in special education, IEPs, etc..the teacher said "Everyone thinks 'fair' means all the kids having the same thing. But that's not fair. 'Fair' is every kid having what they need to be successful. One kid might need headphones to block out the noise that doesn't bother another kid. Fair does not mean every kid has a pair of headphones. It means every kid who NEEDS them, has them available to use. One kid might need insulin. Fair doesn't mean every kid having insulin. It means the kids who need it have access to it." As long as there were alternatives for people with allergies or religious beliefs, it should be fine. So sad that it gets blown up to a huge deal.

Yeah, I understand both sides of allergies. As a school for minors it is our responsibility to provide a safe environment for all students to learn without the student being contained. It also falls under the umbrella of the ADA laws. Peanuts are one of those allergies that tend to go airborne and I am still mistified that they are served on some commercial airlines. Both my DD and I have an allergy and respiratory issues with perfumes. You should see us in the Norway pavilion. *holds breath and move through quickly*

 

[Songbird76]

Indeed she was quite a woman. It does remind you of how different we are from region to region in this country of ours. Impressive.

Yes...my mom was born and raised in Chicago area, so she could drive in the city where my dad was uncomfortable, she was used to going to stage productions and wearing formal dresses for parties, etc....and then she married my dad, went to live on a ranch and learned to kill rattle snakes and inseminate cows and handle basic car repairs like flooded engines or flat tires. Then they divorced and she had to be mom AND dad. It's also amazing what necessity does for a person's skill set. You have to learn things just to survive. When I moved here, I had to learn the language, had to learn to bake from scratch if I wanted the things I missed from "back home" and had to accept other modes of transportation than just driving. Necessity really is the mother of invention!!

 

[Gabe1]

Was I...?
It's still all kind of a blur...

Still think of you everytime I go into a Calendar Store.

 

[Songbird76]

Yeah, I understand both sides of allergies. As a school for minors it is our responsibility to provide a safe environment for all students to learn without the student being contained. It also falls under the umbrella of the ADA laws. Peanuts are one of those allergies that tend to go airborne and I am still mistified that they are served on some commercial airlines. Both my DD and I have an allergy and respiratory issues with perfumes. You should see us in the Norway pavilion. *holds breath and move through quickly*

Yeah, I get both sides, and I absolutely agree that the kids need a safe environment. But as a kid who wouldn't eat anything on a sandwich but peanut butter and jelly, I wouldn't have been able to eat lunch at all if they had banned peanut butter, and that ALSO isn't safe. And I really do wonder how a kid with a severe peanut allergy can go out in public at all. Sure, you can restrict to a certain extent at school...but you can't tell someone on the bus that they can't eat their snickers bar. You can't tell the stadium vendors that they can't sell their peanuts. You can't tell the grocery store they have to ban peanut products. You can't regulate every place your child might go, so teaching your child how to avoid having a reaction, and teaching everyone what to do in case of a reaction seems a better idea to me than just a blanket ban. There's no way to avoid every possible exposure, so teach them to be prepared. Yes, make allergy free alternatives at school, and take precautions to avoid exposure as much as realistically possible, but is a blanket ban really necessary? There are SO many hidden sources.... there's no way you can be sure you have eliminated every possible risk, even if you DO ban PBJs.

 

[Gabe1]

Yeah, I get both sides, and I absolutely agree that the kids need a safe environment. But as a kid who wouldn't eat anything on a sandwich but peanut butter and jelly, I wouldn't have been able to eat lunch at all if they had banned peanut butter, and that ALSO isn't safe. And I really do wonder how a kid with a severe peanut allergy can go out in public at all. Sure, you can restrict to a certain extent at school...but you can't tell someone on the bus that they can't eat their snickers bar. You can't tell the stadium vendors that they can't sell their peanuts. You can't tell the grocery store they have to ban peanut products. You can't regulate every place your child might go, so teaching your child how to avoid having a reaction, and teaching everyone what to do in case of a reaction seems a better idea to me than just a blanket ban. There's no way to avoid every possible exposure, so teach them to be prepared. Yes, make allergy free alternatives at school, and take precautions to avoid exposure as much as realistically possible, but is a blanket ban really necessary? There are SO many hidden sources.... there's no way you can be sure you have eliminated every possible risk, even if you DO ban PBJs.

Yep, I struggle to think of any other institution that has more mandates and responsibilities attached to the primary goal of educating children.

The Catholic School that I attended had a solution. (remember long ago) If the student enrolled had issues they could not or WOULD NOT deal with they'd just expel them and tell the parents to enroll them in PUBLIC schools. One of my friends in 1st grade had some minor reading issues. He didn't last the first year, they booted him. Problem solved.

 

[FutureCEO]

Epcot having a parade is a logistical nightmare but a throwback to the best parade soundtrack (beside Spectro)

 

[MOXOMUMD]

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I think in ten years we only had an issue with one trip and it was limited to 2 students. They wanted to ride a particular rollercoaster and it was departure check-in time. They had staff looking in the park for over an hour for those 2. Hard pressed to spot anyone in a line. So everyone including the bus drivers had to wait until they were ready to go home. While beyond annoying and they didn't get to attend the 8th grade dance (haha) our principal over reacted also. He brought to the board that this trip will never happen again to Six Flags. Punishing future students for the deeds of 2 students that no longer would even attend that school was beyond ridiculous.

Until you posted this I forgot we had a situation somewhat similar about 4 years ago (I think I blocked it out). The kids were over 45 minutes late, again they were in line for a ride. The kids claimed they couldn't get anyone to tell them the time. By the time the two got to the bus everyone was mad at them and these two couldn't figure out why people were mad. Our principal didn't go as far as yours did, but we did make the two kids sit out of the last day of school park picnic.

 

[Gabe1]

Until you posted this I forgot we had a situation somewhat similar about 4 years ago (I think I blocked it out). The kids were over 45 minutes late, again they were in line for a ride. The kids claimed they couldn't get anyone to tell them the time. By the time the two got to the bus everyone was mad at them and these two couldn't figure out why people were mad. Our principal didn't go as far as yours did, but we did make the two kids sit out of the last day of school park picnic.

Some kids at that age are just stupid. I don't offer that as defense for any of them. We all agreed punishing the 2 was enough and closed.

I'm not a fan of group punishment. We had a similar issue at our Elementary School where the lead teacher who received a nice stipend for being the required professional staff member at lunch. He insisted on total silence when walking in the halls to lunch room and lunchroom to lockers and lockers to outside for recess and then again coming in and into the lockers. The entire building was on lunch so there was nothing to disturb and staff was allowed to speak. If he heard any talking the next day lunch hour was total silence and for recess they had to sit against the wall in silence. It was happening more and more frequently. My DD in 4th grade was one of the several hundred within the whole school punishment.

So I asked during a board meeting during the principal's report time to give us some statistics about the on going silence requirement while in movement and the rational, what board policy it reflected for discipline and if the staff was also following the same protocol. We asked her to return to the next board meeting detailing the need and statistics to keep kids from lunch recess and sit in silence. By the next meeting after she delivered the statistics she said after further review the practice had been suspended. The board room was packed with parents and young students who let out a cheer. Board President slamming her wooden mallet. Nothing bugs me more than abuse of power and authority. That teacher took a job in another district by the next fall. Amen.

 

[Cesar R M]

Our building administrators are all over-reactors and lack problem solving skills. All three have their doctorates so you'd think those skills would be refined.

In the 3 elementary buildings we do not serve meals, not until high school which is another district. Our PTO does an every other week hot take out for lunch, pre-order optional hot lunch catered in by local restaurants. This one week it was jumbo pizza slices. The local place brings in staff very early as it takes a long time to make pizzas for a couple hundred students/staff by lunchtime. As the story goes there had been a recall on some fresh sausage and the owner set it aside for supplier pick up. The staff accidently used that sausage (language barrier a real accident) however the pizza was already delivered, served and eaten. The owner a couple hours later called the school and immediately told them what had occurred. Orders had to be gone through to see who got the sausage pizzas, staff and students. Parents of those sausage eaters had to be called and warned what to look for and what to do if...then the restaurant and school had to notify the board of health. It was hectic. Ultimately not one person became ill. Amen. Next board meeting was PTO protesting the blanket cancelling of hot lunches forever-never to be reinstated by administrators. We tabled the conversation to put some thought into it and asked both sides to work together which they remained polar opposites. The board had time to think about it and deemed it was a tradition and a fundraiser that been around for a couple decades without incident and that this type of thing was indeed an error but likely not to be close to a norm so we ruled in favor of the PTO. Then we had the administrators mad at us because the board didn't respect their administrative decisions.

seems like the administrators are more like power hungry than actually trying to be logical and helpful