Poverty...

Poverty

As a child, I grew up in an authoritarian (Berger 299 ) household.  This is where there are high behavioral standards, strict punishment of misconduct and little communication.  My parents were very strict, had rules in place and they were to be followed at all times.  My father was military and he was a pastor of a church, as well.  My mom was a stay at home mom.  Together, they raised my two older brothers and me in a house where there was a lot of love.  I can not say that we were rich or of a higher social economic status, but we were not low class either.  We had all of our needs and most of our wants.  If I had to define our status I would say that we were middle class.  My family never ran out of food, but there were times when they may have forgotten to go grocery shopping.  In those times, my parents made sure the children ate and they just said they would eat later. 

Poverty is defined as the state of one who lacks a certain amount of items needed to survive.  Head start is a federally funded early childhood organization that provides education to low income families (Berger 281).  In my class last year I had a child who took all the extra food and hid it into his book bag and decided that he had to take it home so that his brothers and sisters would have something to eat.  As an educator, I know that if a child is hungry, he/she can not learn what is expected of them.  Abraham Maslow said that children need food, water and shelter in order to survive.

Children who live in poverty often have more than just one stressor to worry about.  Here is a list of some of the things children in poverty deal with on a daily basis:  Most of these children are raised in a single parent home where that one parent is doing the best that they can to survive.  They may get picked on in school, because they have to wear hand me downs from their older siblings.  Some children are not afforded the same education as others, because they have to leave school at such an early age to help out at home.  Living conditions are horrible.  They come in contact with mold, infectious diseases, lice and others things.  If they get sick they must deal with it because they are not covered under any insurance.  They are surrounded by crime in their neighborhoods.  They are very malnutritrion because there is no food, not enough food or unhealthy food.  When you stop to think about how some children grow up it really makes you say maybe your life was not so bad after all. 

My husband often times says that he grew up poor.  Today, he is very appreciative of everything he has.  There has been plenty times over the last six years where I saw him react to a certain event and I wondered why he did.  For example, my parents gave him a bed and a dresser.  He sanded the dresser down, painted it and made it look as if it were brand knew.  He spent hours on it as if it were a toy.  Then he just sat in there looking at his creation.  I had to practically beg him to leave the dresser to come and spend time with me.  I saw it as just another dresser.  Whereas, he saw it as something he had never had before.  As an adult, growing up in poverty can be whatever you make it.  If you want to wallow in the fact that you were poor and feel like you will never become anything, that’s fine.  But, if you want to realize that you want more for your offspring than you had for yourself, than you need to set your goals and limits that are going to help you get to the next level.  Sister Act I said it best, “If you want to be somebody and you want to go somewhere, you better wake up and pay attention.”

References

Berger, K. S. (2012). The developing person through childhood (6th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Here is this weeks assignment on "SIDS"

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDs) is a very touchy subject for my family.  On December 6, 2003, my first nephew was born.  He was such a happy and cheerful baby.  He loved to laugh and smile whenever he saw a new face.  The whole family had grown to adore him, and everyone had a special bond with him.  There was a special little face that he would make whenever something did not go quite his way.  He would poke out his bottom lip and just pout.  We all thought that was adorable, and would sometimes just make him upset just to see “the look.”  On March 5, 2004, my little bundle of joy was feed, changed and put to bed as usual.  The next morning when my sister in law went to wake him up she noticed that his lips were blue, and he was not moving.  My brother jumped into his car without hesitation and rushed to the hospital.  He said the police was right behind him with the sirens on, but he did not stop.  When they got to the hospital the police saw what was happening and told my brother to just go into the hospital.  Once everyone arrived the doctor came out and informed us that everything was going to be alright, and there was a ninety percent chance that he would make it.  We were all at ease.  Ten minutes later, the doctor that told us that returned with another doctor.  He told us that the doctor was new and got the message mixed up, and they were so sorry.  Our baby would not live long and invited us back to say our good byes.  That was the hardest day ever for me, until ten years later when I would have to say goodbye to my own child.

SIDS normally occurs to a child who is under one years of age.  It has accounted for nearly forty percent of the deaths in the US in 1995.  SIDS is more common to occur in the colder months.  In Northern Hemisphere the January rate is double the July rate.  The two most intriguing factors about SIDS are that: it occurs during an infant’s sleep, and it is most common from two to four months of age.  For unknown reasons, SIDS is higher in males than females at a ratio of 1:5.  Unfortunately, some babies are at a higher risk factor than others.  These are babies that have the following characteristics: premature, infants whose mother smoked or took illegal drugs, infants who sleep on their stomachs, infants who were not breastfeed, infants whose mother had little or no prenatal care, siblings of a previous SIDS baby (Sears 13-16). 

Finally, there is a clue, but not a cure to help reduce the number of SIDS.  The book entitled “SIDS a Parent’s Guide to Understanding and Preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome” by William Sears, M.D. has provided some helpful tips:  When your baby is ready for sleep, place them on their back or their side.  Do not smoke or use any illegal drugs around your baby prenatal or postnatal.  Don’t overwrap your baby or overlap your baby’s sleeping environment.  Actually, with the latest research there should be nothing in the crib with your baby besides a blanket and it has to be folded all the way down and tucked under the mattress.  Seek medical attention early if your baby is not feeling well, and be aware that your baby may need less bedding and clothing when they are sick.  These are not guaranteed to prevent SIDS, but they are helpful tips that will help in some way (Sears 28). 

Reference

Sears, William. (1995). SIDS a Parent’s Guide to Understanding and Preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Little Brown and Company: New York.

Hello,
     My name is Tymeshia. I have been having a little trouble getting the link to be active but finally fixed it.. here it is. sorry for any confusion. http://mdecsaml.blogspot.com/

The story of me...

Well, I have thought long and hard about this assignment and the only birthing experience that I can write about would have to be my own.  I have never witnessed a birth and nor have I ever had any children.  So, therefore, here is the story of how I entered the world from my mother’s point of view.

In October on 1982, my father told my mother that she was pregnant.  They had been anxiously awaiting my arrival.  They had two boys already and had been planning and praying for a baby girl.  Ultrasounds were only used for complicated births back then, so my parents had no idea what my sex would be.  My mom said she knew in her heart, it was going to be a girl so she painted the nursery pink and yellow, and began buying girl clothes.  She made a bet with some friends that if she was right they would buy more girl things upon my arrival, which she later won.

As my father was military, they were currently stationed in Germany.  I was born in Osnabruck, Germany.  The closest hospital was an hour and fifteen minutes away.  Whereas, in the United States of America a hospital may have been ten or fifteen minutes down the road.  My mom said that the pregnancy was very hard.  She was constantly in pain and always throwing up.  She could not leave the house freely as she could with my older brothers, because she needed to stay close to the toilet.  She could keep nothing down.  Her favorite food was Strawberry spaghetti ice.  It was a German type of ice cream that came out of the machine like spaghetti noodles and had strawberries on top.  Her favorite thing to do was sleep the day away.

Mom ended up having a scheduled Cesarean Section with me.  She got to pick the date of my birth.  Of course, dad was unable to go into the delivery room; which through the research from the textbook says it could have made it an easier process if he was present in the room.  The only difference is that she needed a translator in the room because she did not speak German.  Mom always tells people upon my arrival I was carried throughout the hospital because the doctor had never delivered a “chocolate baby”.  She carried me from room to room so everyone could see the new chocolate baby.  My mom did not tell family members of my arrival until two weeks after I was born for her own personal reasons. 

I choose this example because it was the only birth that I could relate, as I had seen no other.  I like the fact that my birth place was Germany, because it makes me feel special. Also, this birth was not the normal birth because she had to get a Cesarean Section.  Although, I did ask her did she get an epidural, but I guess there was really no need for it since she was going to be put to sleep anyway.  Also, I asked her how long the process was but she could not remember.  She only knows that I was born at 9:07 am.  Every year she calls me at 9:07 am to tell me happy birthday as well.  I am just as thankful for her as she is for me.