Ninabi's Comments

Does the mother believe that being valedictorian conveys magic powers? Does she feel her daughter will get special
treatment by her professors this fall? That her resume will be enhanced to the point where she will magically get any job she wants?

It says a lot about the mother's ego.

In a few short months, her daughter will be among many, many bright people at Stanford, where valedictorians likely roam in herds. Difficult classes will oftentimes make her feel like she's a "C" student no matter what her GPA was in high school. Mom can't file a lawsuit every time a TA takes points off her kid's fluid dynamics midterm.
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My paternal grandfather was one of those children who worked in the PA coal mines.

In 4th grade, in the middle of winter, he was singled out daily by the teacher to get water from a nearby icy creek. One day, angry that he was the only one chosen for the job, he pitched the bucket into the creek and walked home.

His father gave the nine year old two choices. Go back to school or go to work.

He chose work. He was assigned the task of opening and shutting the doors down in the mines as the mule-powered coal wagons came in and out. Mainly it was a lot of standing around with rats for company. Older boys would steal good food out of his lunch as they came past.

A blow from a mule hoof nearly killed him and left a blue mark on the bridge of his nose for life.

Eventually he worked his way up in the mines and became a train engineer for the coal trains.

I can't imagine a childhood where a young person's long work hours in winter below ground meant they wouldn't see the Sunday except, of course, on Sunday.
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A college friend, blind since childhood, sends the most incredible holiday newsletters detailing life with her sighted husband and 5 children, most of them blind.

I read about the kids going on to national Braille reading competitions and doing quite well (not surprisingly given the focus on education in the household). The big concern is the drop off in the number of kids learning Braille. Good readers make for good writers and not knowing Braille can be a serious setback for continuing on in school.
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One of those things we take for granted- that a gallon of milk from the grocery store won't sicken and kill your kids.

There's a trend to buy raw milk, said to have all sorts of health benefits, but we are too far removed from the miserable past when children died in large numbers.

We take so many basics of our modern life for granted.
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Farting is so last week.
Upcoming entertainment on board the school bus will
include burping, vigorous nose blowing, booger launching
and smearing chocolate on the seat to look like poo.

Each and every effort to amuse oneself will be accompanied by rounds of phone calls,meetings with the parents and the old standby, detention.

I had such a child once, totally unlike his mannerly sibling. Every school year took at least three of my own off my life. He grew up to be nice and normal.
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  • Member Since 2012/08/04


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