(no subject)
Support Group. I was really excited when I started talking to the coordinator of this project. It's sponsored by the state, part of Delaware's response to a study that came out a few years ago in which we ranked 4th in the nation for children expelled from preschool for behavior issues. The rationale is we need to get to problem-children when they are young, when there's a greater chance at turning them around. You can't wait until you have violent and angry teenagers, because by then the habits are thoroughly ingrained.
I love, love, love this. I applaud the State for offering the funding and I was really impressed with the women who ran the group. They must have hearts the size of elephant heads. The Kinglet had a really good time playing with the other children. But the group wasn't for us. I just can't relate to those families.
I found myself passing judgment the whole time. Mostly it had to to with the pro-medication vibe that was going on: like one mother was saying how she felt guilty putting her four-year-old on drugs, and she worried because when he was on them he won't eat or drink, that he sits and smiles like some kind of zombie. And he wets the bed now. The response was an adamant "that's normal. Totally normal". And I'm thinking... oh.my.god.
I got a laundry list of new reasons to resist medicating the Kinglet from this meeting. But it wasn't just the take on meds. There were dozens of little things that I saw, or that were said, that got to me.
I feel bad. I realize that the differences probably have a lot to do with economics. Most of the people there were in some seriously dire straights. A single mom with four kids, including a newborn. A family of four (with one on the way) living in a nearby motel. Compared to some of these folks, the God-King and I are privileged.
Though that can't be the only difference, because there were a few single parents there that seemed a little more compatible, but it's hard to tell because the ones I disagreed with most were the most vocal (and were they vocal). And it's an open discussion, no set agendas, so like most support groups it's really a venting session, and that's great, but I can't get anything from venting with people I disagree with so strongly. I'm not looking for debate, I'm looking for people who support parenting the way I do it.
So. But. Who thinks like I think? I'm an odd bird.
*sigh*
I love, love, love this. I applaud the State for offering the funding and I was really impressed with the women who ran the group. They must have hearts the size of elephant heads. The Kinglet had a really good time playing with the other children. But the group wasn't for us. I just can't relate to those families.
I found myself passing judgment the whole time. Mostly it had to to with the pro-medication vibe that was going on: like one mother was saying how she felt guilty putting her four-year-old on drugs, and she worried because when he was on them he won't eat or drink, that he sits and smiles like some kind of zombie. And he wets the bed now. The response was an adamant "that's normal. Totally normal". And I'm thinking... oh.my.god.
I got a laundry list of new reasons to resist medicating the Kinglet from this meeting. But it wasn't just the take on meds. There were dozens of little things that I saw, or that were said, that got to me.
I feel bad. I realize that the differences probably have a lot to do with economics. Most of the people there were in some seriously dire straights. A single mom with four kids, including a newborn. A family of four (with one on the way) living in a nearby motel. Compared to some of these folks, the God-King and I are privileged.
Though that can't be the only difference, because there were a few single parents there that seemed a little more compatible, but it's hard to tell because the ones I disagreed with most were the most vocal (and were they vocal). And it's an open discussion, no set agendas, so like most support groups it's really a venting session, and that's great, but I can't get anything from venting with people I disagree with so strongly. I'm not looking for debate, I'm looking for people who support parenting the way I do it.
So. But. Who thinks like I think? I'm an odd bird.
*sigh*