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Conclusion of Education Series

Monday, June 05, 2017 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

Thank you for following along my education series, twelve stories surrounding our schools today. Education quite has my heart and with four children in public school, the youngest with special needs, I am a long term stakeholder. Visiting public and private schools, speaking to parents, teachers and administrators, and reflecting on my own education and experience as a public school family have all challenged me to think far beyond my Phd in Education. 1. Teachers care about childr ..

Put Your Phone Away

Monday, June 05, 2017 Adrian H. Wood Comments (1)

Put your phone away, I tell myself, too many times a day. Put your phone away, I tell myself, you're missing the moment. Put your phone away, I tell myself, talk to the mom beside you on the bleachers. Put your phone away, I tell myself, remembering the laughter is more important than capturing the moment in a snapshot. Put your phone away, I tell myself, Facebook and Instagram will wait for you. Put your phone away, I tell myself, they're watching and learning from ..

My Name Is Amos

Sunday, June 04, 2017 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

These people never cease to amaze me. I am out of school one day and we are on the boat. I said, "swing," but no one cared. Daddy said that I love the boat. Just because I said, "go on boat," doesn't mean I wanted to. Duh. The life jacket is a real problem for me. My mom said she gets that and so does everyone within a two mile radius. We all must have a cause. Mine is reminding Mommy that I am the boss. She says I'm going to be wearing my gla ..

Keeping Score

Sunday, June 04, 2017 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

Not me. Not his dad. Not his teacher. Only him. He keeps his own score and no matter our words or reassurance, he won't let the number go. Don't baby him, some say. You can't keep him in a bubble forever, others scoff. You'll have to let him fail sometime, you tell me. Well, I don't agree, not when the subject still calls me mommy, the eleven year old boy who often leans in for a hug and asks to sleep in our bed when daddy is gone. That boy will be thrown to the wolves over my dead body ..

Ten Reasons College Friends Are Your Best Friends

Saturday, June 03, 2017 Adrian H. Wood Comments (1)

1. 20,000 hours. Time spent taking care of no one, thinking about no one and doing whatever the Hell you wanted minus a few classes. 2. Clothes were a community item. In fact, you may as well have not purchased any items, as it was much more delightful to scavenge through another's old crappy t-shirt collection, stolen stand up shorts and rainbows. 3. Privacy was not a thing. Changing clothes, trying on a zillion bathing suits, and best of all, talking to unsuspectin ..

Stop the EOG Madness

Friday, June 02, 2017 Adrian H. Wood Comments (9)

Today I got a phone call from my third-grade son who was in the kind nurse's office and crying. He proceeded to tell me about his jaw and how it was really hurting. I asked if he wanted to come home and he replied that he didn't think he could because of EOGs. Of course you can, I said, it's just a test. If I don't pass, I won't go to fourth grade. I told him that wasn't true. I got a letter telling me that you're going to fourth grade, I said. I lied. How did it come to this? ..

Goodbye to the School Year From A Special Needs Mama

Friday, June 02, 2017 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

Flowers. Three vases. A mix of gardenias, hydrangea, and a few pilfered lilies. Confidingly, a meager offering for a mother's reassurance. Not just a safe place to fall, but a classroom that has been nothing short of miraculous. A year ago, we were prepping ourselves for Amos's entry into school. It was a choice that required no choosing, yet kindled despair and defeat in the family confounded once again by heavy irony. One can not escape the swallowing of pride required when your heart ..

The Other Woman

Friday, May 19, 2017 Adrian H. Wood Comments (2)

He has another woman. Three of them actually, but one is particularly fond of my little blond boy with the funny gait, a boy of few words. It is her face which lights up at the very sight of him. He has another woman. Many a morning we walk into school and he lurches forward out of my arms and into hers. It is her who gives him a warm place to snuggle when I'm not there. He has another woman. He crawled in my bed this morning and took my hand, placed it on his back, and starti ..

Those Hands

Tuesday, May 16, 2017 Adrian H. Wood Comments (1)

I hadn't expected to see them ever again. The last year of his life, I spent hours holding one or the other, running my identical fingers over his smooth cool skin, in hopes for a squeeze. The squeezes came less and less often and finally, that hot July day, they came no more. The brother with whom I shared so many things, laughter and love and childhood secrets, was gone and so were the hands that mirrored my own. I've quite missed those hands. They were integral in my memory of th ..

Define Healthy Baby

Monday, May 15, 2017 Adrian H. Wood Comments (0)

"As long as its healthy," I heard in the years before I became a mother and though I wasn't writing, I was still thinking. Words flow and land on the listener and often times, we are not even aware of their effect on others. We should be though, not in a hyper vigilant, politically correct sort of way, but a place of empathy, eyes and heart open to the needs and lives of others. Spilling catch phrases comes easily, but words can be thorns. For those that didn't or don't or will not have ..

Tales Of An Educated Debutante

on life, loss and the joy that rules the day.

The future is far away and scary, but today is lovely.

Conclusion of Education Series

Put Your Phone Away

My Name Is Amos

Keeping Score

Ten Reasons College Friends Are Your Best Friends

Stop the EOG Madness

Goodbye to the School Year From A Special Needs Mama

The Other Woman

Those Hands

Define Healthy Baby

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