Random Thoughts

I often have random thoughts running through my head.  I like to think that it is because I have so many important and wise things to consider, but I am afraid that it is just my mind slipping some gears.  These are some of the things that have been floating through recently.

1.  Actually, this one is more of a rant.  The Food and Drug Administration recently announced that they would be studying the effect of red dye on children.  I know of children and adults that have not only had problems with red dye, but have actually gone into anaphalactic shock and have needed emergency treatment.  This is not surprising when you learn that the common food dyes that we ingest every day are made from petroleum byproducts.  They are not only in brightly colored cereals and drinks, they are in soaps and other personal care products (where they can be absorbed through the skin) and many non-colored  items (think white cake mix, chocolate syrup, etc).  After reading about these dyes, it makes me almost physically sick to watch children eating these foods.  The FDA decided that there was not enough evidence so that more data was needed to reach a decision!  Are they afraid to fight the food industry?  It is just common sense that we were not made to eat materials that are derived from oil and coal!!  (Child Protectives will go after parents who make their children ingest nonfood items that may make them sick!)  More time indeed!

2.  As an early childhood educator, one of my biggest peeves is teachers who do not tell the truth to children.  I am not talking about whimsy and imagination, but about rewriting history.  One example that makes me crazy is Thanksgiving when the Pilgrims (a plain, simple, and poor people) are all shown wearing gold buckles on their shoes and hats.  Turkeys are portrayed as large birds with multicolored tail feathers.  I am fortunate to have two very good friends who have given me turkey feathers (both domestic and wild) to share with the children so that they can see and feel part of a real turkey.  On top of that, each spring children are given brightly colored wispy feathers to paste to construction paper to learn about birds.  (Like they can't look out a window and see a bird and talk about it?)  How silly!  How pointless!

Because I am always looking for concrete items that will demonstrate real concepts to the children, I was excited when I passed a dead goose by the side of the expressway a few days ago.  I seriously thought about getting off and on the expressway and coming back to the goose to get some feathers.  I was picturing all of the lovely feathers that I could get to inspire and teach the children, but as I was smiling at this picture, it was replaced by a picture of the headlines in the Livingston County News: "Child Care Director Arrested For Vandalizing Dead Goose".  Then I pictured the day care parents, the Board of Directors, and my family (who would probably like to put me in a home soon!)  as they read the article so, with these pictures in my mind, I sighed and drove on home.  Maybe I can find a goose in a less public place that will just happen to shed some feathers in front of me.

3.  Sunday was an exciting day, one that I look forward to every year - the local ice cream shop is opening.  Gone are the resolutions about exercising, gone are the mental pictures of me as a size 6 (as my schoolers would say, "Get real!"),  gone are the resolutions to save every dime.  Visions of ice cream are swirling around me and calling my name.  Unfortunately, while I am sitting here with visions of cones running through my head, winds, rain, and 40 degree temperatures are running through the outdoors.  Still, in my head it is a nice 70 degree night and I am sitting with my ice cream cone.

4.  While I am sitting and writing this, a seven year old girl with a smile that takes up about half of her face came in to visit with me.  She wiggled back and forth while we talked about her school day and she told me her new joke (knock, knock - who's there? - ice cream- ice cream who? - ice cream pickle head!).  The whole time she smiled and smiled, with some giggles and laughs thrown in.  What joy she has and spreads without even being aware that she is doing so.

5.  Also in my head are songs, lists of things that I hope to remember, and the great unpublished novel that I am sure is in there, and plans for the future garden.  No wonder my head gets tired sometimes!