I had my first class tonight. It's the "families" class -- a required licensure class that anyone in special ed has to take.

I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I still can't get past just how many people are stupid enough to say "parents don't care." My immediate response is:"Don't generalize because *I* do."

Then the bile begins to rise and I basically drive home while ranting at the windshield about all the things I'd like to tell teachers and future teachers who say that kind of stuff.

Things like:

Do you have any idea how fucking hard it is to get a child eligible for special education services?

Do you have any idea how much background knowledge is often omitted from the conversation teachers have with parents?

Do you have any idea how thrilled I was that I got a degree with a teaching emphasis, which meant when I walked into an IEP meeting the "professionals" could not jargon me into the ground? (Take a guess how unsettled they were!)

Do you know how damned angry I get about being categorized as "uncaring" when it comes to my kids?

Do you have any idea how much time, money, effort, and doctor visits I expend energy and resources on, in addition to your homework assignments (often just stupid time-consuming worksheets with little educational value)?

Walk a mile it these size 12's and you'll have the same sore feet, broken heart, and disgruntled adversarial attitude I have about teachers and educational professionals who think it's all my fault that my son has severe ADHD and the problems associated with that. I'm sick to death of educational professionals telling me all the things I'm doing wrong with my kid, including his teacher who vaguely says that my son "needs to learn responsibility." He does his homework sometimes for hours a night, often struggling with the logistical inconvenience of typing all of his assignments, even labeling graphics for those stupid science projects that you just pull from a boring science workbook. (Dude, you live next to a wildlife reserve, how about discussing the biosystem in a community context!)

I'm sick of the gay teacher who has obvious disdain for women. Dude, I was in the Queen's court throughout college. Don't go there, sister. Don't try out your good ole southern boys' club on me and expect I won't kick your ass for it. I wouldn't put up with that shit from a straight man and I sure as hell am not putting up with that nonsense from you either.

Nonetheless, tonight, I remembered as I threatened to crack my windshield as I railed away why I am getting a master's in special education; it's so I can save the world one kid at a time.


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And on an entirely separate note....

What is the deal with Atkin's? I long ago gave up on diets because diets do not address the underlying issue of making a fundamental life change. However, Atkin's is everywhere.

It seems like Atkins is free license to eat foods high in fat, especially, saturated fat, which Atkins refers to as "natural." The idea is that if you deprive your body of the carbohydrates it needs that it will turn to burning fat in lieu of carbs. Um, yeah, right, whatEver. You know, I feel the need to eat a big fat sausage drizzled in butter and served with a side dish of avocados dipped in mayonaise, so my body will burn fat.

Yeah, that's the ticket!

If a person deprives their body of foods it needs, they will simpy be setting themselves up for the kiss of failure.
Then they can then feel bad about themselves and console themselves over a carton of Ben & Jerry's. That way they get all their fat, dairy products (calcium), AND carbohydrates in one giant pity party.

High-fat foods do things like clog arteries and do not easily convert to sugar. Exercise burns fat. Fat ingested, basically becomes fat on one's ass. Period.

If I eat a diet low in saturated fats, exercise regularly, and eat a lot of vegetables and complex carbohydrates, oddly enough the pounds just fall off my ass. Because simple sugars are compact, it's easy to eat too many of them and the body sees all that sugar coming down the pike and simply stores the extra as saddlebags on one's buttochs.

The current Atkin's advocacy that is being perpetuated by Subway and other chains seems like it might be a diabetic's dream, however, it's not. I'm not only trying to figure out how to avoid all that fat, but I'm trying to figure out how to get enough carbs without having to resort to eating things that are poor choices like chips and simple sugars or becoming hypoglycemic.

Saturated fats play kissy face with extra sugar in a diabetic's system and make tri-glycerides, which is why diabetes is so closely linked to heart disease.

I swear if I have one more stupid person suggest I eat Atkin's I'm going to slather them in lard and stuff a pork sausage or 10 up their nose.

I don't eat perfectly, but what I eat, keeps my sugars and cholesterol levels normal. I have started exercising again, which means the whole thing is coming together again and I'm going to keep at it, until my doctor says I'm at a good weight or until I've failed so utterly at it, that I have no choice but to consider gastric bypass surgery to extend my life.

Atkins was a stupid fad diet in the 70's determined by many health professionals to be a poor health choice then. Nothing has changed much since then, except that Americans are getting fatter. A high fat diet isn't going to help that trend, in my opinion.

When I eat a lot of veggies and complex carbs and keep the fat low and the protein moderate and I'm well. I don't eat white rice, pasta, or breads -- whole grains all the way, baby. Any diet that advocates red meats is suspect. Much like my mother who has high cholesterol, but insists that she only buys lean cuts of beef, Atkins seems like fodder for that river in egypt: Denial.

If I'm going to live in denial, I'm going to tell myself things like "well, it may have some carbs, but damnit, it's got a low glycemic index."

I keep thinking of Eule Gibbons. He ate super healthy food and then died young of a heart attack.

I plan to eat the best I can and actually live my life. Depriving myself of everything I enjoy is a rotten way to live. Making small changes like ground turkey in lieu of hamburger and whole grains instead of enriched ones just seems to be a better choice for me.