Do you try to convince them of the need for your assistance? Do you follow up later and ask them why they didn't avail themselves of your services? When they politely decline again, do you ask them to sign a waiver stating that you refused assistance and that any hardship you face down the road is your responsibility?
Most people would walk away, kindly offering to be available if they need your help. Not our government. No sir. Their inflated sense of self-importance knows no boundaries, especially where a citizen's privacy and own educated decisions are concerned.
We got a phone call last week from some government agency vaguely asking if there was any "follow up" on the hearing test for our four month old daughter. Recognizing the phrase "follow up" as govermentese, I asked her to explain what she meant. She then asked if we had gotten our daughter's hearing tested yet. Gee, why didn't you just come right out and ask? Is it because you feel like it's an invasion of privacy to ask for what you really want to know?
I didn't want to give her any information that would lead her to breathe a sigh of relief that my husband and I weren't backwater hillbillies who feed our children roadkill. However, I did tell her that Fiona is now four months old and neither we nor her pediatrician are concerned about her hearing. I regret revealing to this busybody do-gooder that we even have a pediatrician.
We'll soon receive a waiver to sign stating that we refused a hearing test and will hold the state harmless in any further matters regarding our child's hearing. That's fine. We'll sign it and send it back. But it illustrates our government's mindset that every person in the country is potentially a drain on the system of safety-net services. That belief is used to justify all sorts of meddling into the private lives of citizens.
In North Carolina, the state requires newborns to have a number of screening tests. We declined to have the newborn hearing screen. We don't have any specific objection to the test; we simply didn't want to pay for a test when we have no reason to suspect her hearing is impaired. The PKU test was a different story. It too is required and it screens for 20 errors of metabolism, Phenylketonuria, which is a preventable form of mental retardation, and other diseases. We felt that test was important enough to get done.
The issue here is educated choices made by the parents. No matter what the state and those terrible stories in the news media lead you to believe, most parents have their children's best interests at heart. Refusal to have a test done should not be seen as neglect or ignorance. In fact, those who object on moral, ethical or other personal grounds are usually more educated and conscientious than those who simply accept without question every test and vaccine mandated by the government.
On a related note, we can tell Fiona's birth certificate has been finally been filed. We got a letter from a local research university asking us to participate in data collection for studies and Enfamil checks in the mail today. So much for privacy.
Busy week
It's been a busy week or so. We're getting ready for a road trip to Daytona Beach with the kids. This should be interesting with two kids. Pray for us, please!We have been plugging along with Fiona's bedtime routine. That is, we're trying (and succeeding so far) in getting her to sleep in her crib instead of her car seat. She's been taking naps in her crib for the past few days and slept most of last night in her crib. I rearranged her bedroom. The rocking chair is now in there and we nurse in her room. Hopefully she's getting the idea that her room is a relaxing place to be.
Danny's doing well. He had a fever late last week, but nothing came of it. We're assuming it's just teeth coming in. It seems every few weeks I look at him and realize he's changed a lot without me even noticing from day to day. Hard to put into words right now since I'm sick and exhausted, but I'll try. For one thing, he's really into reading books with Jim and I. I do the nap time reading. Jim is the bedtime story reader. Also, he can drink out of lidless cups, jump with both feet off the ground, pick the ripe peas of the vine without help and just a few days ago was found in the garden passing a lady bug from hand to hand. By the way, the kid loves to eat beet greens and spinach straight from the garden. He had beets for the first time last night and loved them!
Here are some videos of the kids.
Fiona sitting up!!
Danny and his book
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