Smrt Lernins

When Captain Science was little, maybe around four, he once declared, “I have a robot body and a Triforce soul.”

Science, it seems, is on the way to making that a possibility.

Because I am what I am, which is to say, I’m not the most normal rutabaga in the carrot patch, I have not been able to stop obsessing over this video, with its tiny rat cyborg, which still believes it’s a real real rat, even though it’s just a jarred rat brain in a little rat robot. It creeps me out. It beyond creeps me out; it terrifies me!

Officer Daddyman, also being what he is, which is to say, he likes to say weird things to creep me out, has been on a little kick lately of saying that by the time we’re old, they’ll be able to transplant our brains into new bodies (robot or flesh copies) and so I should anticipate both of us living a very long time. He says that the video above proves him right, and that he can have a nice new cyborg body before he dies of old age. I told him I only agree to “’til death do us part,” and that I’m not contractually obligated to remain in a marriage to a cyborg once Officer Daddyman’s actual body has died.

This raised some Very Important Theological Questions, of course, such as:

How will the various church(es)/religious organizations weigh in on the cyborg issue as a whole?

Does the soul transfer along with the brain, does it go Onward when the body dies, and where does either option leave the cyborg in the eyes of the church(es)?

If the particular organization doesn’t allow divorce, will they require adherents to their religion remain married to their cyborg partners? Would they grant a divorce on the grounds of en-cyborgation, would it be an annulment, or would the non-cyborg living spouse of the newly en-cyborged be considered a widow(er) in the eyes of the church(es)?

If the legal status of cyborgs remained consistent with that of regular living human being of the non-cyborg persuasion (thus meaning the living non-cyborg spouse was NOT a widow[er]), would the church(es) grant divorces/annulments under those circumstances, or would the widow(er) still be a widow(er) in the eyes of the church(es), but forced to remain legally entangled w/ their cyborg spouse?

If the legal status of cyborgs is different from that of the living human, in that the living human is first declared dead before their brain is put into the cyborg, who then gains its own “life” and own legal status, how would that affect divorce/annulment/widow(er)hood? Would the living spouse be widow(er)ed from the physically deceased when his/her body died and would have to remarry the cyborg if s/he wished to continue the marriage?

I’ve already made it clear to Officer Daddyman that I’m not staying married to him if he’s a cyborg, because it’s just too creepy, but I do wonder at the wider-reaching legal and theological (not to mention moral/ethical) issues of a human cyborg. The mind reels, I tell you.

At this very moment (I know, because I schedule this to post right at that time) my “baby” is turning 18 months old. This is a big deal for me, because she hasn’t been all that baby-like for so long–she walks, talks, gets into all manner of mischief–that I’ve been holding on to “she’s not even 18 months old yet” as my way of comforting myself that my little Babypie is still a baby.

I must face the facts, however, and finally admit that Babypie is now a toddler. A full blown, personality larger-than-life, Princess Pitch-a-Fit toddler.

She was a fat, juicy 9lb 4oz baby:

A beautiful force of nature at a year:

Now she’s a 23 pound, lean, mean fighting machine:

So big that I’m pretty sure it shouldn’t be allowed:

And a right good dancer.

I’m gonna do our weekly review a little bit different this week. Instead of the usual write-up, I’m posting Captain Science’s schedule exactly as I write it up each week. This isn’t just ’cause I’m lazy (though make no mistake, I am), but to give an idea of how our schedule is balanced. I should note that due to a schedule change on Officer Daddyman’s part, we ended up doing KidCoder on Wednesday and part of Wednesday’s work on Thursday instead. KidCoder takes a 2+ hour block of time and requires Officer Daddyman’s presence, so if he isn’t here on Thursday, we don’t code that day. This is a decent rundown of how our days look, however. Each day, Captain Science chooses the order he works through his activities.

Monday
Fred’s Home Companion p37, Lesson 21
Aztec & Maya pg 23-29
World of Poetry pg 18-23, Types of Rhyme – write couplet in each of the rhyme types
PLATO Science – rewatch Earthquake lesson
Essay Voyage pg 5-7, Correct Word Assignment
Caesar’s English II pg 5-10, activities on pg 10, note cards of new word stems

Tuesday
Life of Fred pg 71-74
Home Companion pg 39, Lesson 22
Aztec & Maya pg 30-33
Essay Voyage pg 8-10, four-level analysis
Caesar’s English II pg 11-14, activities on pg 13
PLATO Science – sections 1, 6, 7 of Earthquake worksheet packet; practice test 1-4

Wednesday
Life of Fred pg 75-79, Your Turn to Play (Lesson 23)
Aztec & Maya pg 34-37
Essay Voyage pg 11-13, Practice and Bugs
Caesar’s English II pg 16-19, activities on pg 19, note cards of new vocabulary
PLATO Science – Earthquake practice test 5-8

Thursday
KidCoder
Soccer, 1-3
Math Olympiad 6:30-7:30 (forgot our club leader was at Disney this week!)

Friday
Life of Fred pg 80-82
Home Companion pg 41, Lesson 24
Aztec & Maya pg 38-41
Essay Voyage pg 14-16, Practice
Caesar’s English II pg 20-21, Caesar’s Usage activity on pg 20, discuss Sesquipedalian Story together
PLATO Science – Earthquake mastery test

This question wasn’t so much submitted as brought up in general education-related conversation. A single dad friend of mine found himself in the precarious situation of having his living situation shaken up rather suddenly on Friday and having no idea in what school district his child would need to be on a Monday. He dropped me a quick message asking a) how hard it would be to get them registered as homeschoolers, at least for the short term and b) if he was crazy for taking on homeschooling as a work-from-home single dad.

The answer to the second question is that being crazy is one of the most important prerequisites for homeschooling. The answer to the first question was “not that hard, but…” and I offered him a third option, using the free Georgia K12 Cyber Academy (virtual public school, done at home). He looked through the info, we talked about different ways he could go about it, how he could integrate other homeschooling stuff as needed, that there are many resources for homeschoolers locally and online (including resources for his 2e son) and he asked a semi-joking, semi-serious question, which becomes our “Ask a [Smrt] Homeschooler” question of the day, “If it’s this easy to homeschool in Georgia, why doesn’t everybody do it?”

So, why don’t all parents choose to homeschool?

“I don’t want to.” I guess the most obvious answer would be that not everybody wants to. Some people have no desire at all to homeschool their children. They’re perfectly content with the education their children are receiving elsewhere, with knowing their children are in a safe and controlled environment for 8 or so hours a day (handy if both parents work outside the home), and with the current education status quo. They figure if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and if they’re happy, their kids are happy, and the education their children are receiving meet everybody’s basic needs, more power to them. I wouldn’t try to talk happy away-schoolers into homeschooling.

“I work full time.” Parents who work outside the home would definitely have additional difficulties attempting to homeschool. The child care issue is just one part of it. Finding affordable child care for the 8+ hours both parents are working puts homeschooling outside the realm of possibility for many families. Some still find a way to make it work, though. Some parents find ways to move their shifts around, so one parent or the other is home with the children for most of the day. Some manage to telecommute some or all of the time or find work-at-home jobs that allow them to be present in the home during the day. Some parents, the ones who do have someone to watch the kids during the day, homeschool in the hours after work. It’s not impossible, but it’s definitely not easy.

“I wouldn’t do a good job.” Some parents fall into the trap that I was once caught in, of believing that they wouldn’t be capable of homeschooling or couldn’t do it “right.” The idea of homeschooling being like the Highlander (there can be only ONE way to homeschool!) is a little comical now, but was certainly a fear at the beginning. As a prospective homeschooling parent, you worry about a lot of things. Will I cover the right material? Will I cover enough material? Will I be able to teach my child (more on this in a minute)? Will my child be unsocialized (also more on this)? What on earth am I supposed to be doing every day? Luckily, if this is the major stumbling block between you and homeschooling, it’s amazingly easy to overcome it. Start by reading The Well-Trained Mind, because it gives you a handy-dandy outline for what your child should be covering at roughly every grade level. You can tweak the suggestions up or down based on your child(ren)’s abilities. You can talk to other parents about which curricula they use. You can get a homeschool mentor to walk you through her daily, weekly, and yearly schedules. The panic-inducing question of what you’re supposed to cover and when can go piffle out the window with a little research and friendly assistance — so if you’re considering homeschooling, don’t let that fear stop you!

“My child and I wouldn’t be get along.” I also believed, before I became a homeschooler, that there was no way I could handle being with my child all day long, let alone actually manage get along with him well enough to hep him learn anything. We fought so badly about homework every night, how could we possibly do school work all day long together? What I discovered, however, is that this wasn’t at all the case — it’s a much different beast to homeschool than to do homework every night. While we do occasionally butt heads over an assignment, it’s nothing like the constant bickering and nagging and whining that used to be involved with homework. As for being able to stand having my kids home all day, now I couldn’t imagine wanting to send them away five days a week! Homeschooling vastly improved the qualify of my relationship with my older son, but I never would have thought that could be true before I was a homeschooler.

“My child wouldn’t be socialized.” Other parents may have concerns about socialization. They worry that keeping their kids home could hinder them socially, emotionally, or developmentally. There’s a common belief that homeschoolers are unsocialized, simply because they don’t spend all day, every day with children their own age. I’ve found the opposite to be true for many homeschoolers, though. True, it’s not a constant mingling with same-age children, but there’s a lot more interaction with a wide array of ages, people, and situations throughout the day. It also means that the child’s peer group can be much more interest and ability based than age based, so the connection with peers (at co-ops, clubs, or other activities) can run a lot deeper. Homeschoolers may be differently socialized, but different doesn’t mean un. If this is what’s keeping you from homeschooling, put that fear aside.

“I’m not a teacher!” (also known as “I’m not qualified!”) Another concern parents have is that they aren’t qualified to teach their children, because they don’t have teaching degrees or subject-area expertise. Folks, you’ve been teaching your child since s/he was born! You know how your children learn; don’t buy into the propaganda that you suddenly lose that knowledge when math or language arts is involved. You don’t have to have a teaching license to know that your child learns best through reading, that she does really well if she can use manipulatives for math, that he responds great to timed tests. The key is finding curricula that match up with those learning styles (another place where a mentor is helpful) and either finding additional resources (co-ops, tutors, etc.) for the subject areas where you have less knowledge, finding curricula that explains the materials in such a way that you don’t have to have the knowledge yourself, or (and here’s my favorite) learn the subject along with your child! Life of Fred has really helped refresh some of my math skills and our Michael Clay Thompson language arts has brushed up my grammar. No one is more qualified than an involved, dedicated parent.

“I’m not religious/evangelical/a creationist.” I think the idea of homeschooling as being a strictly fundamentalist Christian pursuit is on the way out, but some people still have concerns that there’s no room in homeschooling for secular, evolutionist, etc. families. It’s true that the bulk of homeschooling materials do have a decidedly Christian flavor, but even this is starting to change. Secular or inclusive homeschool groups are cropping up in many parts of the country and many curriculum options are available for nonreligious families. Homeschooling isn’t just for people who don’t want to see evolution or sex ed taught in school. Many people homeschool to give their children better and more expansive education in those areas! Christians and non-Christians alike have found a home in homeschooling, so don’t let your own religious beliefs (or lack thereof) be the reason you don’t homeschool.

Those are some reasons the [Smrt] Homeschoolers can think of that might keep parents from choosing to homeschool. Some are very reasonable and some are based in misconceptions, understandable though they might be. Whether you choose to homeschool exclusively or to send your children to a public, private, or parochial school, however, don’t make that decision based on unfounded concerns, but on the educational choices that are best for your children.

We were making great progress this week, then today dragged so badly that I just went ahead and shot it to put it out of its misery. We wrapped up at 3, without doing the Grammar Voyage post-test or our World of Poetry unit. Captain Science agreed to do the post-test tomorrow without a fuss, so at least I can feel ok about that. I hate to make poetry wait, but I was d-o-n-e.

This week in history, Captain Science started the Aztecs and the Mayas. He read the chapter on “Early American Civilization” in History: The Definitive Visual Guide and started The Complete Illustrated History of the Aztec & Maya, reading the introduction and the chapters on “History and Mythology,” “Fragments of History,” “Aztec History and Mythology,” and “Unlocking the Secrets of Maya Society.”

Despite my memory lapse on Sunday, which kept me from remembering to put science on the schedule initially, Captain Science did actually manage to work on some science this week. He completed the main lesson for the earthquake unit of PLATO Earth & Space Science. He also did the application and the worksheet packet. He has a few areas where he needs some additional practice, probably because Donovan was being rather distracting when Captain Science watched the lesson, but we’ll pick back up on Monday with that. I had put the first 4 practice tests on the schedule (they’re very short), but I felt like he needed another pass at the lesson first.

Apart from the post-test that we put off until tomorrow, Captain Science finished Grammar Voyage! This means he gets to start Essay Voyage on Monday. I’m very excited! He also finished Caesar’s English I, after doing the last lesson (Lesson 20) this week, and will start Caesar’s English II next week. He only missed one question on the final test!

Math is moving along nicely, too. Captain Science worked through lessons 17-20 this week in Life of Fred: Beginning Algebra/Fred’s Home Companion, which includes pages 57-71 in Life of Fred, three “Your Turn to Play” sections, and additional questions in the Home Companion. We had another Math Olympiad meeting. I have no clue what they’re working on, but he really enjoys it, whatever it is.

Electives-wise, this week, Captain Science did another unit of KidCoder and both Captain S and Tank had another soccer practice and were taken to the homeschool ice skating day by Officer Daddyman while Babypie and I went to La Leche League.

My soccer star!

Tank had a good week. Dimhibbins came over for his first day of preschooling with us. His father works from home, so I’m trading a day of homeschooling for the pleasure of Tank having a playmate — a worthwhile trade! Today, we worked on money. I pulled out our giant change jar, showed the boy four types of coins (pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters) and instructed them to each pick out 10 pennies, 2 nickels, 1 dime, and 1 quarter. I gave each of them a piece of white paper, on which I drew three big circles. The big circles had 1, 5, and 10 written in them, with a little doodle of the thing they could “buy” with their money for that price. Together, we worked on different ways to add up the amount we needed. I love this age, when you get to see their brains click with understanding. Captain S is old enough know that almost everything he learns is synthesis, which doesn’t create the “click” you can see. With the 4-year-olds, though, it’s pure, raw learning, absolute newness, so when they grasp a concept for the first time, the “Eureka!” is visible in their faces. We had money Eureka today! To make it even better, Dimhibbins and Tank each got to keep the coins I’d counted out for them, so they went home 55 cents richer.

Tank and Dimhibbins working on their money activity

Babypie added some new words to her already impressive vocabulary. She is now saying “dog” and “cow.” She uses “dog” in jokes about Badge, saying he’s a dog and then switching and saying he’s “kitties” (most things are plural right now). She called my great-aunts both by name this week and when we all clapped and said “yay!” after she sang us a little song (which goes “yeah yeah yeah yeah YEAH yeah”), she also clapped and exclaimed, “I LIKE yays!”

Babypie likes yays!

I also had a reasonable accomplished week, making some progress on a BOLD Red Tent we’re planning for the area, getting some stuff cleaned, getting all caught up on the laundry (which languished due to travel), and even doing a little planning for next school year!

The very tired face of accomplishment (from earlier this week)

Cold oatmeal.

No two words can better sum up the course of my morning than these.

Have you ever had one of those mornings where you’ve realized by 10am that you should have kept on sleeping and just left the children to fend for themselves, because they’d probably learn more and wreck less than they did after you emerged from your bedroom and into the chaos that is your house? No? So it is just me?

You’re a terrible audience, Smrt Readers. I need a little more moral support than that!

Let me tell you about my morning, then, and see if you’ve ever had these experiences. I was up at 8:30, changed and dressed the baby, dressed myself, and folded a load of laundry. Officer Daddyman works a part-time once a week, and this week it fell on Friday, the same day I agreed to do some preschooling with Tank’s good friend, Dimhibbins. This already spells a busy day and I woke up dragging. The goal on these bleary-eyed mornings is simply to fix a pot of coffee and get everyone going on their daily activities as quickly as possible. Of course, no such thing happened today.

Captain Science has two morning chores: make his bed and attend to any dishes (empty the dishwasher if it was run, load if there’s anything in the sink). He had done neither by 8:30. I set him to work on that, took the dog for a walk, and all seemed well-ish. When I came back in, however, all heck broke loose. Dishes were not done, people were still running around half-clothed, and even though Tank typically pours himself a bowl of cereal, only oatmeal would do today. He started whining and yelling about oatmeal, while I discovered that someone had once again tee-teed all over the bathroom. Scrubbing toilets while Tank shrieks “I want OATMEEEEEEEEAL!” Joy.

I put the kettle on to boil, fixed Tank his oatmeal, poured water into my oatmeal bowl, hurried Captain Science along in his dish doing (it’s 9:15 at this point, so 15 minutes past our normal school day starting time), and went up to finish the bathroom. I came down to find my oatmeal stone cold, so I added a little more hot water. Tank then offered to help me feed the dog.

Badge the beagle was just diagnosed with colitis (because we can’t just have a normal dog), so he gets a special diet of steamed chicken and rice right now. Tank was being a big boy, carrying the bowl of rice and chicken, and tripped over the baby gate…spilling white rice and chicken across the entire school room. Badge started dancing around, eating frantically off the carpet, while I tried to get the rice cleaned off the desk. After Badge at what he wanted, I had to vacuum up the rest of the rice. Badge hates the vacuum, so the whole while, he barked, whined, and bit the vacuum. Fun times, noodle salad.

I got everything cleaned up and finished just in time for Dimhibbins to arrive…and for me to eat a quick bowl of (once again) stone cold oatmeal. Captain Science didn’t start school until 10, a full hour after his normal start time. Le sigh.

My morning tastes of defeat, frustration, and ice cold slop.

The Internet is Wrong:
I Am Right
First Annual Smrt Lernins Conference on Me-o-centrism

Topics covered will include:

• Me-o-centrism: They Know It’s All About Me, But They’re Denying It
• Introduction to the Mechanics of Me-o-centrism
• Scientific Experiments Showing Homeschooling Parents Are Motionless at Their Laptops
• Scientific Evidence: I Am the Center of the Universe
• Answering Common Objections to it Being All About Me
• Homeschooling: You’re Doing It Wrong/Parenting: You’re Doing It Wrong (a course in two parts)
• Being Wrong on the Internet: You Can Do It, Too!
• Why Can’t You Just Shut Up and Accept My Word As Good Enough Proof!
• Validation for Homeschoolers (limited seating available)
• Evidence For a  Literal Interpretation of My Blog: What Does the Script Say?

The Internet is Wrong: I Am Right is a detailed and comprehensive treatment of the scientific evidence supporting Me-o-centrism, the academic belief that I am the center of the universe, and that it does, in fact, revolve around me. Garnering scientific evidence from the Well Trained Mind forums, Facebook, YouTube, and the people who read my blog, The Internet is Wrong shows that the debate between me and the rest of the Internet is much more than a difference of opinion. It’s also that they’re all wrong. So very, very wrong.

Placing myself at the center of the universe is not only scientifically awesome, but is a very stable model that works out pretty darn well for me (and we all know, it is all about me). Me-o-centrism is supported by the vast web pages that show that everything I know is right, that everything you know is wrong, and that if you don’t agree with me, you’re just closed-minded.

The best part about The Internet is Wrong: I Am Right is that I don’t even have to leave my house for this conference. It all comes right to me! Embrace the science of me-o-centrism, and the world will come right to you, too.

In the expanding files of “stuff I learned on the WTM forums,” today I have learned that eight is too young an age at which to expect a child to work independently.

Not “work independently on all subjects, all day, but to work independently at all, according to some forum members. Expecting an 8-year-old to work alone is apparently an unreasonable expectation. One woman said her 8 year old needed her mother to sit with her for her entire day of work in order to get things done. Another said her 9 year old had a similar need for constant supervision. To the best of my understanding, both children are typically developing and working on an age-appropriate level.

Is it really unreasonable to expect a child of 8-9 to be able to work independently for most, or even part, of the day?

Captain Science, who is now 9 and was 8 when we started homeschooling, definitely has days when he needs frequent check-ins (or frequent “Hey, do your work!”s) to stay on task. He’s a bit of a daydreamer and a confirmed procrastinator, and his mind wanders to bigger, better things. Most days, however, he’s pretty motivated to move through his work, and a simple “have you finished your…” is all it takes to get him going again. Rare is the day that I have to glue myself to his side in order to keep him working or answer a ton of questions for him. If I had to do that, I’d seriously start reevaluating if what we were doing was working.

If it were a matter of constantly having to answer questions, I’d look at whether the materials were above his level, presented in a suboptimal way for his learning style, or poorly written/organized/designed.

If it were a matter of having to babysit him, I’d look at the reasons he needed to be micromanaged — difficulty in staying on track? distracting environment? learned helplessness/realizing it’s easier to whine to me for answers? some issue on my part, like an inability to trust him to manage his time?

If it were a matter of my child needed me right by his side emotionally, I’d look into the roots of that insecurity and constant need for reassurance. We’d work on ways for him to become a little more emotionally independent. We’d look into possible fears or worries that were resulting in that great a need for assistance.

I would not just assume it’s normal for a child of that age to need constant attention and management, every single day, to get through his school work. Surely I am not the only person who thinks it’s a little wacky to think a typically-developing 8-9 year old needs that much hand-holding. I know, I know, every kid is different, but if your kid (again, typically developing, no mental/developmental/emotional issues) can’t get through any work without extra help or without a mom-parrot sitting on her shoulder, that might be a sign for a little deeper delving.

Sunday nights are lesson plan nights here at the McLernins house. Usually, I wait until the children are in bed, but today I was quite enterprising and plowed through the weekly plans while the kids watched a show on Netflix. I still need to type everything up and print it for tomorrow, along with prepping the folders for the week, but I’m glad to have the bulk of the work taken care of already.

Am I alone in noticing the “please validate my choices” stuff on the WTM forums lately? What’s up with that? I know there’s always an element of that in any parenting-related forum, but it has hit a crisis point lately. I should just make a post called “Everyone come and confirm my every choice is vastly superior to yours” and see if anyone gets it.

I recently finished Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, author of one of my favorite books, The Time Traveler’s Wife. I must say, it didn’t leave me with that bittersweet sad/happy feeling I felt after The Time Traveler’s Wife. It did have brilliant pacing and a chilling, terrible (though beautifully written) climax. I felt haunted and heavy after finishing it.

Because I am a creature of grace and beauty, I potentially just blacked my own eye by whacking my face on the changing table. I’m wearing my glasses, which give me a horrid fish bowl view of the world, and when I leaned over to pick up a fallen baby wipe, BAM! Clocked myself in the zygomatic bone (see? injuries can be educational!) right at the rim of my ocular cavity. If I look like a boxer tomorrow, I’ll take pictures.

Badge the Beagle has digestive issues, for which he is taking his first trip to the vet while under our care. Room-clearing gas is one of the less pleasant symptoms. All I’m thinking is, “Oh please, oh please, don’t let it be parasites!” If it’s parasites, I’ll be pretty miffed, as he was supposed to be fully vetted and treated w/ parasite preventives while he was still w/ the rescue — the same rescue that took three weeks to send the finalized papers, and only then after about six emails from me. *hmph* Hopefully we’ll find a non-serious, non-parasitic cause to Tooty McTooterson’s stank gas, fluctuating appetite, and unpleasant poos soon.

We’re preparing for our Disney trip at the end of the month. I’m already starting to have mild panic attacks when I think about it. I love me some Disney, but it’s a big trip, with a lot of people, for a fairly long time. Yikes!

That’s all the (random) news that’s fit to print.

This is not a post about where I was on September 11, 2001.

While I remember that day in great detail, my experiences and emotional responses on 9/11 became stunningly irrelevant just shy of three years ago, when Officer Daddyman graduated from police academy. By the time the next September 11th rolled around, what I thought about on that day, what I feared, had changed.

Here’s the thing: when you’re the wife of a police officer, every cop is your cop. This seems to be fairly consistent across the board for the officers’ wives I’ve met. When an officer dies, even if s/he was in another department, another state, hell, sometimes even in a movie or on TV, you take it personally. After all, that officer probably wasn’t doing anything significantly different than what your own officer does. Sure, larger states with bigger metropolitan populations are more likely to have a higher number of officer deaths, but as the ambush and murder of the Lakewood officers showed us, an officer can be in danger any where, solely for putting on the uniform that day. Any officer could pull over someone harboring extreme anti-government sentiment, could go out to a call that turns ugly, could end up in a completely unexpected situation. As Officer Daddyman puts it, there is no such thing as a “routine traffic stop,” and as a cop’s wife, you can’t help but take it to heart when an officer isn’t going to make it home to his family.

Every cop is my cop. That’s what I think about now on September 11th.

Seventy two law enforcement officers died on September 11th, 2001, including 23 officers from the New York City Police Department, three officers from the New York State Office of Court Administration, five officers from the New York State Office of Tax Enforcement, 37 officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, one officer from the US Department of Justice, one officer from the Department of the Treasury, one officer from the Department of the Interior, and one fire marshal from the New York City Fire Department (fire marshals are both fire fighters and certified law enforcement officers). A staggering 343 fire fighters and EMTs also died that day.

These men and women didn’t “lose their lives,” a saying I have grown to strongly dislike. “Lost” implies something being misplaced, a lack of intent. While I’m sure none of these officers began their day, let alone their career, with the expectation of a terrorist attack that would kill almost 3,000 people, they didn’t stumble accidentally into their profession. Some of them became cops because they wanted to help people and serve their community, some were following in the family tradition, some were just taking the best job they could get with their skill set. They were regular people, working a profession that is often thankless, often unrespected, usually underpaid, usually overworked. They did exactly what I know my husband would have done under those terrifying circumstances. They did their job and some of them didn’t come home.

The police officers who died in 9/11 aren’t a list of numbers and names. Everyone one of those officers was a person — a father or mother who didn’t make it home to children; a spouse or girl/boyfriend who didn’t make it home to a partner; a child who didn’t make it home to a parent; a brother or sister who didn’t make it home to a sibling. Any given officer isn’t all that different from the ones who died getting people to safety on 9/11. He puts on a bulletproof vest and sidearms instead of a suit and tie. She walks up to your car knowing there is no such thing as a routine traffic stop. If a horrible tragedy occurs, their job is to run at it and not away from it. They do their job and sometimes they don’t come home. That’s the knowledge they put on every day, along with their uniform. I wish people would think of that the other 364 days of the year.

Every cop is my cop on September 11th…and every other day.