Final week!

Wow I can't believe the last week is upon us--this quarter flew! After reading this week I found myself really reflecting on my old job as a caregiver for seniors. The agency I worked for put me with many hospice cases so I had a lot of time to think about death and dying. I think the biggest thing that I learned working in the field, is that although no two people handle death the same, it is a process for everybody going through it and everybody effected by it. I had many clients who were ready to die and even looking forward to it in a way. I also had many clients who were fighting hard to stay alive even after doctors and nurses talked to them several times about the possibility of changing their advance directive to DNR because they were so sick...

Our society looks at death in a much different way than some other cultures. We don't talk about death unless we absolutely have to, and it makes most of us very uncomfortable. If we could change our views on death it may ease the pain for those affected.

I really had never given a whole lot of thought to ageism (especially dealing with the elderly), or the way our society appears to separates itself from elderly people, until I started working as a caregiver for the elderly. Also, I feel like a learned a lot from taking my Nursing Assistant course. The most alarming pattern that I have noticed is that it seems like when a person has nothing left but love to contribute to a family, many sons and daughters and loved ones seem to make themselves scarce. My uncle, a surveyor, is having an extremely hard time finding work as he is 63, and surveying requires one to be physically active.

I feel that we have a lot to gain from the elderly. I wish our culture revered the aging as the wise and experienced people they are.

week 8

This weeks reading material really made me think about WHEN I would like to have children. Recently I have been pushing the idea a little harder on my husband than I used to. We would both like to have children at some point but I can tell that neither he or I are ready. I am about to be in nursing school for the next few years and he goals that he would like to accomplish as well. I can completely see how accomplishing our individual goals would be important for our relationship post baby. Recently when visiting my sister in law and nieces (7 and 9), she talked about how many parents she knows aren't engaged with their families. She said that she feels like maybe some people aren't engaged when they have not been completely fulfilled pre-child. I definitely want to wait to have children until my husband and I both feel fulfilled to a certain degree in other areas of our life; however, I don't want to wait too long to the point where it is hard to conceive... hard balance to strike.

This weeks topic and articles really made me remember so many of the children I used to work with whose parents were separated or divorced. Two children in particular, they were brother and sister, had a very hard time in the midst of their parents divorce, while I was working for the childcare center they would stay at. Their parents would have screaming fights outside of the daycare, and their children would be crying and distraught. The brother was older and would sometimes cry and tell me that he didn't think he was ever going to see his mom again. I don't see how this can be easy on a child, or anybody for that matter. I know a girl, she's 22 now, who didn't graduate from high school because she was so distraught that her parents were divorcing. She ended up having to get her GED and was not able to walk with the rest of the graduating class.

Week 6

I don't know how I survived my teenage years. I know I am not the first person to say this, but it's true. I was the typical "crazy teenager." I remember raging at my parents and teachers, sneaking out, and many, MANY other things I shouldn't have been doing that I will not put on the internet (just use your imagination though--whatever you are thinking I probably did it). My parents were amazing and forgiving, but I just don't think there is any way they could've ever stayed engaged enough on what was going on with me to give me the type of control I needed.

I remember being extremely influenced by my friends. At the time, I didn't think of it as the old "giving into peer pressure," but that's totally what it was. Whatever my friends wanted me to do, I was doing it. I remember acting on impulsions all the time, but then feeling guilty afterwords--it was like I didn't have any forethought (and after reading the article this week, maybe I REALLY didn't have the ability to think about the consequences of my actions).

I had a friend my senior year of high school who had gotten a felony and wouldn't tell any of us how it happened--he was very ashamed. One day he finally told me it was because he had slashed all the tires of every car in an entire parking lot. When I asked "why," he said "I have no idea." I think this really sums up the way teenage brains work...

Week 5

Reading about the topic of parenting and different parenting styles this past week really made me reflect on my childcare experience. The article especially made me remember a few parents that were not very involved with their children. I am certainly not saying that parents who have nanny's or take their children to childcare aren't involved--after all, it takes a village to raise a child. I have, however, nannied for a few parents that were never around for their children. 

I think it is important to note that the author of the article was made it seem like all parents are uninvolved or permissive, who allow their children to have T.V.'s in their room or watch certain T.V.shows. I don't think this is that case. I think times are changing; the potential for a child to be exposed to sex and violence in the media is rising exponentially, and the economic stress and need for jobs is making it so many parents have no choice but to be uninvolved, authoritarian, or permissive by default because they are not ABLE to be around enough. Of course, many parents who are busy are wonderful, involved, authoritative parents, I am just saying that the media and socioeconomcs are making parents face more challenges.

Week 4

Everything is changing so rapidly in our society it is hard to get a grasp on the way it is effecting children. Everything is speeding up, including in some ways, the growth of children. I can't help but feel that childhood used to be something that was more cherished and guarded; however, now you can't  go anywhere without seeing the media advertising for things only adults should be worried about. The clothes they sell at childrens' clothing stores look closer to something Snooki from "Jersey Shore" would wear than the clothes I wore as a child.

The hurriedness of our society puts children in a position where they are often exposed to things which have a trickle-down effect that can actually alter their physiological state. One theory some researchers have is that a reason many young girls are starting to menstruate so early is because of the huge amount of sex in the media. I am not talking T.V. only either; I am talking about billboards, magazines, you name it.

Something the author of The Hurried Child talk about, is the fact that many children of divorced parents are forced to play the role of a peer or even a mediator for their parents. Being thrown into a very adult role can have a deep effect on a child and alter the physiological and psychological course.