ruminations

This post has two parts.

Part the First: wherein encounters with the public library lead to benefits beyond my wildest dreams.

A bunch of my fellow mothering peeps have been writing posts every week about "real" moments, not just the shiny, happy blogpost-worthy moments, of motherhood. I fully intended to participate, but, to be honest, usually on Mondays, I don't feel up to facing reality. Either I'm in a really good mood, and don't want to think about "real." Or I'm too grumpy, I couldn't show that side of myself on the internet.

Over the past several months, my thoughts sometimes wander to the topic of higher education, specifically, how technology may (will?) shape how the institutions of higher education. Will the structures at the university level be impacted by technology and what will this look like?

My kids struggle to stay asleep. It's kind of rough going. I've read about sleep. I've tried every strategy possible. People have offered well-meaning advice (nb: don't offer advice). I've done all I can. Seriously, I have. I really don't think there's food allergies or reflux.

So today marks seven years since Sept. 11, 2001. I can always remember which year, because it was three months after we got married.

I was trying to explain this to myself earlier today, why we do what we do with respect to some of our parenting choices. I feel like this post by Sally Clarkson really nailed a lot of what I was trying to hash out in my own brain:

Yet another rare appearance by Dad!

Ever see Das Boot, or Crimson Tide? The Hunt for Red October doesn't count, because it doesn't really convey the reality of daily life on a submarine. It's excruciatingly boring, characterized by much olfactory discomfort, governed by very strict rules of economy, and only occasionally interrupted by periods of spine crushing intensity.

I've been doing more research on the internet. I think I just need to go away and read a novel. I'm dreaming about deaf issues lately. It's just all deaf all the time. I'm trying to get a feel for the CI community. It's something I've resisted for a long time, because my first experience with it was so depressing. But it's a reality in my life now, and at some point I'll have to reckon with it.

Though I almost never post on my wife's blog, I almost always read through the comments she gets re. d/Deaf issues. Mostly I tend to stay away from commenting, because I have a tendency to take things personally, whereas she is much more measured in her responses. However, I feel like taking this opportunity to reiterate for those not familiar with our story, some of our reasoning about the CI.

It seems that most of the negative reactions to Ellis' CI center on the accusation that we are doing what is best for ourselves, and not what is best for Ellis, because: