Educating Myself...

I love education. I love learning. Even though I walked away (umm, ran away screaming) from a career in education, I know there is a purpose for my education & ECE degree. Certainly, one day I will use my knowledge to education my own children. What could be more valuable than investing so much into your own kids? :) I still love to learn today. It is heartbreaking to see young people now, graduating high school, even children going through elementary school, who are NOT being taught critical thinking skills. To me, teaching critical thinking in school is about as close as you can get to teaching common sense. Personally, I question EVERYTHING. I do not accept this world at face value. I ask "why". I do not believe every bandwagon should be jumped upon. I have become very guarded & protective of my life- it would seem selfish, but of all the selfish natures of people, this is one way in which people are not selfish when they should be! It's your life! Question where the world is taking it! I was lucky enough to be blessed with a partner who, like me, doesn't think inside the box and go with the predetermined way things are supposed to be. We question everything. The world says: go to college, get a job in your field, get married, buy a house, have kids, go into debt, be unhappy forever. We say: take as long as you need to make it through college/drop out cold and never go back to college, get a job in your field and run screaming because it's not worth the unhappiness, get married while still in college, don't buy a house- instead move in with your mutual best friend for an unpredictable life of welcomed craziness, have a baby when God moves you to, and live as small and simply as you can instead of maxing yourself out to "have" the best of the best. It works for us, anyway.

These days it seems like I am always questioning against what everyone else seems to be doing. Earlier this year, when I found out I was pregnant, I knew I had a long journey ahead of me. More accurately, I was terrified to death. I had never thought about being pregnant before, kind of just never considered it. I knew I wanted kids but I had never thought about the... process. Well I am questioning the process upside and down.

Isn't it true that people do NOT like to be told what to do? Or what to think? Try sticking someone in a preconceived mold and they will freak out on you. Well that is exactly what childbirth looks like in America!!!! You are told from the first moment what to do. You are told what to think. You are put in a preconceived medical mold and NO ONE fights it. You are told the way it is and people accept it with no argument! Call me crazy, but isn't this completely backwards?

Before I go further and risk sounding like a lunatic, here's a documentary on the subject. Remember the talk show host Ricki Lake? She is behind this. I have seen this a thousand times on Netflix (who doesn't love documentaries?) but have only just recently watched it. Below is a link to the trailer, and if you find yourself intrigued, the full version is actually on youtube as well. Check it out! A little education never hurt :)

The Business of Being Born

My life has been blessed (by no accident) with a wonderful woman, very close to my husband & I, almost like a second mom, who had her first son the traditional way, then had the next three sons using the Bradley Method. One unnatural birth inspired her to have three natural and wonderful births, so I know this is not just  propaganda from some crazy feminism inspired crusade. I have heard from a very real woman what a difference it makes to question the way things are. This woman's own mother, a nurse, was so moved after witnessing the first natural birth that as soon as she got home, she pursued her own Bradley Method certification. My husband and I have been reading through the Bradley Method book and we love it!

All this leaves me to say, I will be doing things a bit differently with the birth of my son and I couldn't be more happy about it! More later :)