Student Driver: Feel Sorry for Me

There was a time when I would look at a slow moving vehicle on the highway, the one with the "Student Driver" sign taped to the back window and feel irritated, today, I have a different sentiment. That sign should say "Student Driver: Feel Sorry for Me".

The legislators of Ohio must have been really sadistic bunch when they signed into law the condition that new drivers must be accompanied by a licensed driver for at least 50 hours. 50 hours is a lot of hours, especially if you're a single mom. In general I think our lawmakers think about families as ones that include two married adults, thus 25 hours isn't too bad if mom and dad do some of the passenger seat time.

The Kid is basically a good driver, obeys the speed limit to the letter, holds the wheel at 10 o-clock and 2 o-clock, leaves the car seat raised just high enough that I bang my head when I have to get in and drive. We decided that cell phones and radio were too much of a distraction, so neither are on when we drive, and boy, 50 hours is a lot of hours.

The funny think about a 16 year old is that if they think they can get away with something, they will. The Kid was afraid of a moving violation thanks to his driver's ed class at AAA. So after that announcement, it was just too easy for The Kid to let mom drive him everywhere, 5 days a week, so the 50 hours weren't getting done - at all.

Just as I thought I was going to lose my mind with all the driving I was having to do, I realized I needed to get The Kid in the driver seat for 50 hours, and thus the term "Mom's taxi" became a reality. After that revelation, each time The Kid got into the car for a ride to one of his "things", the following conversation would take place.

"Do you have ten dollars?"

"For what?"

"The ride you are about to take."

"I'm tired."

"So. Do you have ten dollars?"

I haven't made one dollar yet and The Kid is a few hours short of the 50 hours he needs to satisfy the requirements for the State of Ohio.....

© 2005-2008. Amy Cortez. All Rights Reserved.

I Voted Today

The place where I vote is a Catholic church situated on the Ohio River. I have never really understood how they got such great real estate, and it is beautiful, but there it is on the mighty Ohio river, up high, yet right on the banks, away from flooding. It is a beautiful building, and for a country that believes in separating church from state, quite a statement to The Kid who is currently studying the US constitution in depth.

Voting Tuesday in Southern Ohio was rainy, so we weren’’t assaulted by the usual mob of campaigners, who by the way I am sick and tired of.

As we approached the Gothic structure, The Kid reminded me of The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom co-authored by founding fathers, Jefferson and Madison, where “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever...”. I often wonder why he can’t remember his multiplication tables. I told him it was actually the bingo hall that was our destination, so it really wasn’t a religious worship place. The Kid continued, he wanted to know why the rest of us had to vote on gambling and slot machines but this place was allowed to have bingo...sigh... the trials of mentoring this sort of human being.

The Kid is in general very Liberal in his politics -- who wasn’t when they didn’t have any money to call their own? The Kid takes great delight in harassing his Grandfather and anyone else who speaks of anything conservative. A friend recently shared this story:

Subject: A FATHER DAUGHTER TALK A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat and was for distribution of all wealth. She felt deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican which she expressed openly. One day she was challenging her father on his beliefs and his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and more welfare programs. In the middle of her heartfelt diatribe based upon the lecture she had from her far left professors at her school, he stopped her and asked her point blank, how she was doing in school. She answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain. That she had to study all the time, never had time to go out and party like other people she knew. She did not even have time for a boyfriend and did not really have many college friends because of spending all her time studying. Furthermore, that she was taking a more difficult curriculum. Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Mary?" She replied, "Mary is barely getting by," she continued, "all she has is barely a 2.0 GPA" adding, "and all she takes are easy classes and she never studies." But to explain further she continued emotionally, "But Mary is so very popular on campus, college for her is a blast, she goes to all the parties all the time and very often does not even show up for classes because she is too hung over. " Her father then asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your 4.0 GPA and give it to your friend who only had a 2.0." He continued, "That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair equal distribution of GPA." The daughter visibly shocked by the father's suggestion angrily fired back, "That would not be fair! I worked really hard for mine, I did without and Mary has done little or nothing, she played while I worked real hard!" The father smile and said, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

The look on The Kid’s face was classic and the backpedalling was interesting.

But to get back to our adventure, in general I take The Kid with me when I vote so he can see what goes on and understand the process a little. This day, The Kid accompanied me because I was certain he would be able to figure out how to use the electronic voting machine even without reading the instructions. These kinds of things escape me and frustrate me to no end and that’s why we make such a great pair.

Later that day in TaeKwonDo, The Kid’s Master told me that she was so proud of him, she continued “it’s so cool to see kids excited about politics, he said he couldn’t wait until he was old enough to vote.”...If she only knew...

Not Back to School

Every homeschooling family celebrates a “Not Back to School Day”, at least that is what I like to believe. Our day to celebrate was Mondaythis week. The plan was to go to our local coffee house to catch up onthe latest news with the coffee-house-posse, to go to Staples to not-buy back to school supplies, to go to Morgan’s Livery one last time to kayak our favorite river and then to Eat at Joe’s (Joe’s Crab Shack) on the river for dinner.

You always see a flurry of noteworthy news regarding the idea of students returning to school:

Parents Clueless on Drugs Surveys show teens, folks out of synch, out of touch... BY PEGGY O'FARRELL | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER A comparison of two recent surveys shows parents apparently don't have a clue about their teenagers' use of drugs and alcohol....[Read on] Goal is Grads, Not Dropouts Schools put emphasis on getting to finish line BY DENISE SMITH AMOS | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER Glen Este High School in West Clermont missed its graduation goal last year by four-tenths of a percentage point, the equivalent of one student dropping out, says Superintendent Gary Brooks...[Read on] No Cheating, Kids Pledge BY SARAH HARDEE | ENQUIRER CONTRIBUTOR When Villa Madonna Academy senior Sean Spille turns in his schoolwork, you can be sure it's his own - he even put it in writing. Spille is one of the high school's 180 students who signed a new honor code this year that calls for honesty and academic integrity....[Read on]

Just once I’d like to see for example, the Literature reading lists that returning students are required to read, the lists of texts being used and perhaps a syllabi or two of some of the more enlightening classes offered in our schools. This might make me wonder what we are missing by “not-going-back-to-school”.

On our "Not Back to School Day", Staple’s is always a fun stop. As we walked the crowded rows, we saw parents and kids pouring over lists of items required for learning at school. The bulging baskets made me wonder if I had missed something in our planning. There really isn’t much “stuff” a homeschool needs, though I have to admit to replacing our 7 year old laptop this year. Published in Today’s local paper:

How much we spend (selected items) Clothing and accessories - $230 Shoes - $98 School supplies - $86 Electronics (lower grades) - $114 Average total spending (lower grades) - $527 Source: Bigresearch What I spent Clothing and accessories - $0 Shoes - $0 School supplies - $61.60 Electronics (lower grades) -- $19.98 Average total spending (lower grades) - $81.58 Source: My Staples Receipt

Though, if I really wanted to start totalling my dollars that go toward education, including the property taxes I pay to fund what our local public school system does, we’d be in the thousands...though I am not going there today. (I generally have that number ready for when they start the cries for more taxes to pay for the schools in November.) We did have a glorious day on the Little Miami River. The leaves on the trees were that green, showing a golden glow that Autum is just around the corner. All the turtles we saw in the early spring were back lazing in the sun on the logs. Several large fish jumped for us and the ducks and herons were all there to celebrate our "Not Back to School" day on the river. Sunburnt, and tired, we finished our day at "Joe's Crab Shack". It was a good "Not Back to School" day.

Log Book: Memphis, Tennessee USA

Memphis, Tennessee USA - June 2003
It’s Not the Heat, It’s the Humidity

Memphis Tennessee in June. It’s not the heat that gets you , it’s the humidity. You walk into the parking lot loaded with buses that announce they are from Oak Ridge Missionary Baptist Church, Huffman Baptist Church- Birmingham Alabama, First Baptist Church - Madison Mississippi and Baptist Missionary Association - Picayune Mississippi. You quickly notice that you are the only white person present with the exception of your 11 year old companion and 2 others you notice from a far. You realize that the next part of your journey will be about the color of your skin. You see the 1950’s style motel, the name “Lorraine Motel” and remember this was the place that the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

The National Civil Rights Museum is truly an American treasure. It is housed partly in the old Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Room 206 is where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, it is the last stop in the museum’s first building .

You start your journey in an air conditioned room where you view a video presentation about the American Civil Rights movement. You begin your museum tour viewing “Slave Art”, paintings, sculpture and prints from African American artists, authors and poets. You are given a radio and headset so that James Earl Jones and other well know African Americans may narrate about each exhibit, at your own pace. Because of this, your tour becomes a very personal tour. You quickly go through the exhibit on slavery, because you know that subject very well. At least you think you do. You turn the corner and see the Ku Klux Klan “get-up” and see photos of lynchings. You stop at the exhibit that describes about why the NAACP was formed and you bring your hasty tour to snail’s pace. You return to the slave exhibit and start over.

It takes about 3 hours to tour The National Civil Rights Museum, but the time you spend will greatly broaden your knowledge of American History. How much does the average American know about the American Civil Rights movement? About the World Civil Rights movement? Who is Maya Angelou? Sojourner Truth? Sarah C. Roberts? Dred Scott? Nelson Mandella? Malcom X? Think you know? You probably don’t, but a wealth of information exists about these people and others at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.

Our ultimate destination was Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. Space Camp is an immensely anticipated part of the Science program in our homeschool. This year we decided to make it a bigger adventure. We toured part of the South too.

Graceland isn’t what you expect. It is like going through your neighbor’s house only on a larger scale in a way that only Elvis Presley could do it. I thought Graceland would be something quite different, but as you tour, you realize that this was a real person who had a refrigerator in his kitchen, a swing set in his back yard, slot cars in his basement and trained in the martial art of Tae Kwon Do. You find out that Elvis did great humanitarian works in Memphis, Tupelo and worldwide. You get to see all the great “outfits” he wore, all the awards he won. You leave the estate with a sense of loss and wonder what would have happened had this man lived longer.

The South is an interesting place. Like many other places in America, it is a place where you can conjure history, learn about our future, experience American music in the form of Gospel, Rock-A-Billy, Blues and Soul. Beale Street in Memphis is a great place to learn about the soul of American Music. It’s also a great place to find Southern style barbecue! And if you’re not up for Blues and barbecue, there’s a Hard Rock Cafe!

In the heart of Memphis is the world famous Peabody Hotel. Not only is the architecture and interior interesting, it contains a good collection of Memphis/Southern memorabilia. It also is home to the Peabody fountain where the world famous Peabody ducks live. Well they don’t really live in the fountain, they just “work” there from 11-5 each day. They live in a penthouse on the top floor of the hotel. Every day at 11 AM the Peabody ducks come down on the elevator, walk down a red carpet to “work “ in the fountain for the day. Then at 5PM, the ducks retreat back down the red carpet, to the elevator and go back up to their penthouse for the evening. Really!

Adding travel to your curriculum is a great way to reinforce what you study. Travel makes history come alive, Science seem more real, Art and Music exist within reach. Travel makes the world seem like a familiar place. For information on the National Civil Right Museum go to: www.civilrightsmuseum.org. For information on Graceland go to: www.elvis.com. For information on the Peabody hotel go to: www.peabodymemphis.com.