Comments

1. T wrote:

   Columbus Day is coming up!
   We have a teachable moment in our K-8 school, with a main bulletin board set up for our Columbus Day display - what would you want to see on that bulletin board?

   We’ll start with our Columbus Day T-shirt, which is likely to read:
   In fourteen hundred ninety-two
   Columbus sailed the ocean blue
   (drawing of the 3 ships with skulls on the sails)
   Many suffered at his hands
   Stolen lives and stolen lands
   Why DO we celebrate this man?

   Thanks, a ton!
   T.

   Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 10:44 am ¶

2. Yoli wrote:

   Today I am just thankful this site exists.

   Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 10:56 am ¶

3. justamom wrote:

   The world that my children are growing up in; the world they will live in as adults - when I am no longer able to provide some protection - is on my mind as always. How can I work towards changing it; towards providing information and educating others in ways that they will hear? Today I would like to extend an invitation to adoptive parents who read here, if it is okay with the moderators. Some of you probably already know of and are members at the Adoption Parenting yahoo group. I would like to invite others to join the group. The discussion is by topic, which is currently Transracial Parenting. Adoptive parents are looking to learn more about parenting. Often issues of race are part of the discussion even if they are not the main topic. The additional perspective and input from parents who read and discuss here at ARP would provide support and insights. Thanks for considering it. Here is a link to the homepage.
   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adoptionparenting/
   Ginny

   Posted 09 Oct 2008 at 11:14 am ¶

4. sasa wrote:

   Hello all

   Posted 10 Oct 2008 at 7:34 am ¶

5. sasa wrote:

   hello all. I am very new to this website and glad i found it after struggling with a painful and disappointing experience at a day care my son attends. My son has been in the day care for 6 months now. The first two months were a joy. His caretakers were a black and russian compassionate women. Once he turned 24months he moved up to a new class and teacher. The new teacher is distant and aloof yet when I see her engaging with other parents(whom are predominately white) she’s all smiles and engaging. With me she’s to the point and cold. Chalking this up to her personality I ignored my instincts which told me that she doesn’t like me or is racist. You see my son attends a daycare in which he is the only black child in his class. Actually my son is biracial half haitian and half puerto rican. There are about two other biracial children whom are mixed with asian and white. Anyway on a particular day last week, I had to pick him up early for a doctor’s appointment. I was enraged in where she put him sleep which was next to the frige!!. SInce it was nap time for the toddlers I remained silent. While placing him the car I noticed his lip was busted and the area above his eye was scrapped real bad. As soon as I got to the doctors office the first thing he doc noticed was his eye and I could not explain myself only that it occured in day care. After the doctor’s visit i went back to the school and spoke to the assistant director who told me that this teacher is typically an introverted person. I am introverted but I do my job when on the job. I don’t feel comfortable with her being his teacher. My husband is not happy with where our son was sleeping but manages to keep giving her the benefit of t he doubt going back to her personality. My husband gives everyone the benefit of the doubt. I love the school but fearful of this situation since i involves my son. So I am taking him out. It’s so sad because the school is accredited by NAEYC which is the hallmark of quality care for children enrolled in daycare and very expensive. I am so hurt by this beacause my son did not deserve to sleeping next the frige. Our own cat won’t even sleep there. Ever clean underneath a frige? It’s filfthly. Any comments or suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

   Posted 10 Oct 2008 at 7:53 am ¶

6. Gloria wrote:

   I am shocked, disheartened, and worried about the level of vitriol and hatred on display at Republican rallies aimed at Sen. Obama recently. How can one presidential candidate, particularly one who was tortured as a POW, not speak out against the sentiments of “kill him” and “terrorist” directed at another presidential candidate? My biracial 4-yr-old has decided that he wants John McCain to win - based on the commercial he saw about McCain’s energy plan, featuring windmills, and on the fact that “John McCain has straight hair like me”. I’m now trying to figure out how to make sure he doesn’t see any of the hate-filled commercials or snippets from rallies for the next month. I don’t want him to think the level of anger and hatred on display in McCain’s campaign is acceptable behavior. And I really don’t want my son to get a whiff of the level of racism that’s implicit in all of it. At least for a few more years, I still want him to believe that the President, and those who are running for President, are honorable people worthy of respect. Seriously, it doesn’t seem like too much to ask.

   Posted 10 Oct 2008 at 9:11 am ¶

7. Gloria wrote:

   Sasa, I just read your post. What a difficult situation, especially since your son is probably too soon to explain to you what’s really going on during the day. If I were you, at the very least I’d do a few more “surprise” visits during the day, to see hwo things are going for your son. I’d also say to trust your gut - even though it’s a NAEYC accredited school, if that particular classroom isn’t working for your son, then you should either push for him to be in another classroom in the school or take him to another school.

   Posted 10 Oct 2008 at 11:44 am ¶

8. Rosita wrote:

   Sasa, I would definately pull your child out. You have to go with your gut - and it seems to me you have more than just a feeling to go on. But I would make the director of the facility aware of why you are pulling him out as well. They need to be aware of the situation - it doesn’t mean they will necessarily do anything about it, but they do need to be aware. When you look for another school, see if there are more minority students there, and try to talk to some of their parents before or early on if possible. That is what we have done for our biracial (I am white, my husband is African) sons.
   I too am a saddened by the level of hate being spoken at the Republican rallies. I wish I could say surprised, but I, unfortunately, I am not. In the past, I lived many years in very heavily Republican areas, and I am very aware of how quickly things can get to such a point. Especially when such people feel that they are among like minded people. We have just stopped listening to the radio and watching tv when the children are awake. Our older son (3 1/2 years) is so aware that he picks up on everything. We have already had to answer some really tough questions from him about the campaign, and as things have gotten more heated, it is just easier to limit the access to the news. (I don’t mind answering the questions, but I would like to limit the exposure to some of the more hateful things for at least a while.)
   He identifies both canidates by sight, and is a huge supporter of Obama (I am so proud, but I don’t try to influence it). The other night at dinner he said he hopes that “Joe Biden and Barack Obama get a green light, and John McCain gets a red light.” So do I!

   Posted 10 Oct 2008 at 2:35 pm ¶

9. Rosita wrote:

   Sasa, I also just thought about it, but having children in an area that there is food storage and preperation (which I assume is the case of where the fridge is) would be against most state health regulations.

   Posted 10 Oct 2008 at 2:39 pm ¶

10. deesha wrote:

    Sasa,

    Did the school explain to you how your child became injured? My child’s preschool, also NAEYC accredited, gives detailed incident reports for even a scraped knee. My advice would be to pull your child out and also report the school to NAEYC. You have very legitimate concerns, and the school did a piss-poor job of addressing them.

    Posted 10 Oct 2008 at 3:41 pm ¶

11. slackermom wrote:

    sasa, i wish NAEYC accreditation was a guarantee for quality, but even naeyc centers struggle with turnover and staffing issues. i struggled all through the childcare years for my two oldest, and what i finally ended up looking for was the right classroom each year.. caring teachers, strong environment, and a positive atmosphere. if i tried to find the perfect center, i’d still be looking. so, go with your gut, talk with the director, and if things still feel off to you, trust yourself and find a better spot. i know firsthand how challenging that is, but also what a difference it makes. good luck.

    Posted 10 Oct 2008 at 3:56 pm ¶

12. sasa wrote:

    No. Deesha, they did not even give an incident report on how our son was injured. Rosita, I did not know about the frige situation. THe frige is in the corner of the class room where the kids play and learn. THey best they could offer was to assign a teacher who is black to oversee things to make sure things are going ok which does nothing to relieve my anxiety regarding this. The only thing that would make me comfortable is if he had another teacher. I am going to remove him from the school this coming MOnday. He cannot switch to another teacher because he only attends twice a week and there seems to be no other family to swap days with. I will contact NAEYC regardingthis whole thing. I actually did leave a voice message but did not hear from them yet. Thanks for your comments and all. You’d think in 2008 race wouldn’t mattter that much especially towards a two year old innocent child.

    Posted 11 Oct 2008 at 10:22 am ¶

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