families

7 posts

Today in WTF: Deaf Boy Asked to Change his Sign Name

Your name is part of who you are and how people identify you as different from another person. Hunter Spanjer, a deaf pre-school boy from the corn belt, has a registered sign for his name. His name in Signing Exact English sign involves him crossing his index and middle fingers and shaking his hands up and down. Problem is that the Grand Island, Nebraska school district thinks it looks like a gun and therefore violates their ‘weapons policy’. The school district has asked that Hunter change his name sign. (Note to Grand Island School district: bringing your hands to school is not the same as bringing a weapon). Continue reading

Just a Click Will Help this Deserving Couple

Let me tell you a story about my cousin Marci Lapinskas and her husband Jason. A little over a year ago, Marci was pregnant with her second child. It had been quite a year for Marci and her family. Her father had been in and out of the hospital and her mother was recovering from breast cancer.

The shining spot in this family’s life was that she was expecting. One day, she was with her mother and she asked her mom if you could get bruised from the baby beating you up in the inside. Her stomach was covered in deep purple bruises. Marci went to the doctor and found out she had a rare form of leukemia, it was aggressive and needed to be treated as soon as possible. However, Marci was just over 7 months pregnant and they would not be able to start chemo until the bambino was out. Continue reading

The Care and Keeping of Babysitters

I am thousands upon thousands of dollars in debt, thanks to five years of a private university education dedicated to a degree in elementary education. I graduated last May and, with the nature of hiring in elementary schools being what it is around here, I was not lucky enough to land a job right away. We’re still holding our breath for this upcoming year, but in the meantime I’ve been babysitting like crazy — it allows me to pay what’s required on my loans for now, puts gas in my car and I even have a little spending money sometimes. Continue reading