Ugly Underwear Update

Here's what the teacher said. Sorry for not posting this sooner. I'm sure I was keeping everyone in suspense. Ha!

Dear (Chandler and Monica),

The assignment was meant to be a silly activity to help the children.
  We are talking about the letter and sound of Uu and opposites.  This
activity incorporates these things - U words and opposite (ugly, pretty 
under, above) words.  The underwear sheet is used by all of our
Kindergarten classes.   It was never meant to be offensive in anyway and it
is not a required activity.  It was only meant for fun.  Sometimes it's
the silly things we do that help them remember a skill they are having
trouble with.    I review all assignments/activities before they are
displayed and would never expose any child to anything inappropriate on
the underwear/underpants or any other activity/assignment.

Please accept my apology for any offense this assignment caused you and
understand it was not meant to be offensive.  Jake is excused from the
activity.  If you would like, I can allow him to sit in another class
while the other students are showing their completed activity. 

Sincerely,
(Teacher)   

So we got out of the assignment, but I wonder if any other parents complained. I would love to see that idea removed from the teacher's books in the entire state of Mississippi. Hmmm. Wonder if I could get enough people behind me to REFORM Mississippi public schools? HA!

On a related note, I have been looking into a new private school that started up this year in a nearby town. I heard about it in late spring and got some information from the school, but I told them that it didn't look like we had room for it in the budget, so we wouldn't be able to send J there this year. Then I found out over the summer that I could continue my job with the youth ministry I've been working with off and on over the past eight years, which would help us be able to afford kindergarten at the private school, especially if we just did a half-day, which is what I wanted in the first place! I emailed several questions to the elementary principal last week but haven't heard back yet, so if I don't hear anything soon, I'm going to email her again or maybe email the kindergarten teacher directly. The thing is, although I'm sure we could pay tuition for half-day kindergarten, the price for first grade next year basically doubles, and I'm not positive we would have money for that with a new baby and E in preschool. I'm not sure if I'll still be able to work my job, and although Chandler passed a certification at work that will give him a raise, I don't know if it will be enough. I am honestly not worrying about it or over-analyzing, just trusting and praying that if that is where God wants us to send our children, He will provide.

What else is going on...well, E has bronchitis, and J was quickly coming down with it, so we're spending tomorrow's school holiday resting and recovering. It's still too hot for me to go outside with the kids and enjoy it. The heat makes me sick. Oh, in case you weren't aware, I'm 15 weeks pregnant tomorrow and am still battling some all-day-long sickness, although it's MUCH better than it was. It was pretty rough for a month. I feel like I can get out of the house a little now. Anyway, I am due April 6, and if you know what kind of a huge basketball fan I am, then you'll find it funny to know I am due the day of the men's NCAA national championship game!

Oh, we bought a bunk bed today. I had been checking craigslist and had inquired about a couple, but they had already been sold. I saw a new posting Friday and jumped on it immediately. We looked at it today and bought it! It is so awesome...so much storage space plus a little crawl area to play in and a pull-out desk. I think the kids are going to enjoy it. We just have to get the current set out of J's room and find a friend with a truck who can help us load up the new bed and move it in.

I guess that's a good update for now. It's about time for bed! Later...

*EDIT* The bunk bed is very similar to this one...and we paid about 1/3 the price the original owners paid!

Worth Blogging About

Obviously been away for a while, but I just had to share this one.

Our kindergartener brought home an assignment this week with this letter attached:

"Parents,

We are talking about the letter and sound of U in reading this week. In honor of the sound of U, we are going to have an ugly underwear contest. Attached to this letter is a copy of underwear for your child to use to design the ugiest pair of underwear they can. Be creative. Items that can be used are sequins, buttons, cloth, paper, wallpaper, stickers, pictures from magazines, newspaper, etc. Use your imagination.

The ugly underwear is due Friday, October 10. On this day we will put our ugly underwear on display in the hall to be judged. Please make sure your child has their name on the back of the underwear."

And attached is a piece of paper with what looks like a pair of boxers or shorts.

Now, there are a lot of things this school does that I do not like, but I drew the line with this one. I cannot believe they would do something so tacky. Of all the things to help learn about the letter U, this was the best they could come up with? Come on!

So I sent the following letter to the teacher and principal this morning:

Dear (teacher and principal's names),

This letter is in regard to our son Jake's
kindergarten class assignment to design ugly underwear
for a contest. We find the assignment in poor taste
for a number of reasons.

First of all, in our house, we do not point out,
ridicule, or otherwise bring attention to anything or
anyone we might think is ugly. To do so would be bad
manners and unkind. Our children would be in serious
trouble if they ever referred to a person or thing as
"ugly," and we as parents must be an example to watch
our words before our children.

Secondly, we are concerned about the choice of
clothing used for this assignment. Underwear? We
understand that the contest is in relation to studying
the letter U, but surely the creative minds at Gary
Road could have come up with a better idea! We are
honestly worried about what some parents might let
their children put on the underwear, possibly exposing
our son to something we don't want him to see.

We understand that some people might view this contest
as cute or funny and will not have any problems with
it. However, we view it as inappropriate and not in
the best of taste. Because of our feelings about this
contest, we would prefer not to design the ugly
underwear but are completely willing to assist Jake in
a different assignment about the letter U that would
be more appropriate. Please let us know what we need
to do rather than participate in a contest we do not
fully support.


Thank you for your understanding.

So what do you think? Are we being overly critical? Are we out of line? Or do we need to take a stand against flaunting our ugly underwear?

Over a Month

Since my last post. Hmm.

Things are going fine...busy.

I need to rest. More later.

AH!!!

Finally, a fair, well-written story about Sarah Palin. Kinda sad it had to come from the U.S. editor of a newspaper from England, but hey, that's what you get with the media these days.

This is a pretty good one, too.

Couple more items worth blogging about:

Tar Heel Guy has asked Chandler to be a groomsman in his wedding! YEA! Of course Chandler said he would be honored!

And...since I haven't done an "I-hate-it-here, this-place-is-stupid" post in a while, here's the latest on that. A festival had been organized for our little non-incorporated community south of Jackson for this Saturday. When I received the latest edition of our crappy monthly newspaper, it was front-page news, listing all the sponsors, all the vendors, everyone who had signed up for booths, and everyone who would showcase their talent on the entertainment stage. The festival was complete with a rock-climbing wall and lawn mower races. Woo hoo! One of my friends, who is an accomplished seamstress (which makes me hate her sometimes ), was asked to design some cute kids' shirts and sell them in one of the booths with some other people. She didn't want to take samples and have people place orders there and have a ton of work to do after the festival; she'd rather have everything done and sell what she had and maybe take a few special orders. So she decided to get 100 shirts in various sizes at Wal-Mart and start sewing early this week. She had done about 80 shirts, cute stuff with little designs such as footballs, hearts, cowboy boots, and crosses on them, when she got word that one of the singing groups would be unable to come to the festival due to Hurricane Gustav, so what did the organizers do? THEY CANCELLED THE WHOLE STINKIN' FESTIVAL. No kidding. I still can't believe it. ARGH!!!!! So typical! So now my friend is having to sell nearly 100 shirts on her own, or she's stuck with them. GAH!!!

Distracted

Been a little distracted lately. Can't go into why just yet.

I can't believe I never blogged about the Olympics.

We dodged a hurricane on Labor Day, although it's been raining for days, maybe weeks, on end. And it always seems to rain when I have to drop off or pick up my child from kindergarten.

Speaking of school...I'm still not terribly impressed with it...and then today, I received the one-page PTO calendar/newsletter. It had FIVE misspelled words on it. No kidding. It might have been six, because I am not sure how to spell one of the businesses listed on it. Uggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Now, J's handwriting has improved, his coloring has improved (staying in the lines), and he is enjoying art, music, and p.e. His teacher is really sweet. He behaves extremely well and has been given some responsibilities by the teacher. So those are the positives.

And while we're on the subject of positives...I have been watching the Republican National Convention this week. Normally I don't care too much about politics, but this presidential campaign has been different. I have enjoyed the speeches by Fred Thompson, Rudy Guilani, and even Joe Lieberman. But Sarah Palin last night...WOW. She was awesome! Too bad we have to watch the convention to hear the TRUTH, because you sure can't get it from the liberal media. It is refreshing to have a COMMON PERSON fighting for the hard-working people of America, not someone out-of-touch from a prominent family or Ivy League background. And today, Obama says that the Republicans are "avoiding issues" on the voters' minds. Um, what issues? Like voting records and experience? Service to your country? Actual strategy rather than big talk? Nothing there to avoid. Palin said it all last night! The truth just hurts a little sometimes, I guess.

Okay, I'm out of time...family needs me...