Pope Benedict XVI

We have anew Pope. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected on the second day of the conclave. The election being completed so quickly can be taken as a good or bad sign, depending on how you look at it. Ratzinger has chosen the name of Benedict XVI. He is described as being conservative, which should be good for the church.

Seeing as how the new Pontiff has just recently turned 78, he will not likely serve as long as his predecessor.

This being the first papal election of my lifetime, it was quite exciting watching for the smoke. I am glad we have a new Pope and can get on with moving the church forward. I hope His Holiness will continue the work of John Paul II and do much good for the church and the world.

Luck of the Irish

Late yesterday morning, I was following the children through an oat field(last year's oats), when I happened to look down and found the first four-leaf clover of the year. I know they're supposed to be hard to find, but I don't usually have much trouble finding them. As per tradition, this year's first four-leafer went to my husband. One of the first gifts he ever gave me was the very first(and maybe only) four-leaf clover he ever found. I still have it and keep it in a very special place.

Adventures in Parenting

Yesterday my husband and I had a meeting at the school to discuss our oldest child's problems with math. The main topic of the meeting was whether or not she would benefit from Special Education, limited to the area of Mathematics.

Special Ed is a lot different now from when I was in elementary school. I remember the Special Ed room. The "special" kids spent the entirety of their school days in that room, which was not much bigger than a large broom closet. This segregation added greatly to the social disadvantages of being in Special Ed. These days, or at least at the local elementary school, the children work with the Special Ed teacher only on trouble subjects and only during the scheduled time of day for the entire class. They then rejoin the class for the rest of day.

We decided that our daughter would benefit from such services. The Special Ed teacher seems to really be on top of things and we are hopeful that she'll have success in helping her. She has a good strategy -- group setting with some guaranteed one on one time, working at the child's pace.

We're also considering a summer school math program, so the kiddo can keep up her current skills.

Let's hope that Special Education no longer carries the stigma it used to.

Words of Wisdom

Words of wisdom for this week:

"Don't be so open-minded your brains fall out." -- Unknown

As many of you know, Pope John Paul II has died. He was a good man and a great leader. May God rest his soul. I am only 22 years old, so for me, he has always been Pope. He did so much good in the world and I pray that his successor will add to his good works and strengthen the church.