About Yale by Linda Koplovitz

I have a son, Yale. In 2008, he turned 26 years old. When he was a little toddler and I wanted to be a good mother, I would sit him on my lap and read to him children books. He would not sit on my lap very long and I could never finish reading him a story. This worried me and I discussed it with my husband. My husband said, "Don't worry, he's just a boy."

But I did worry because if he wouldn't sit still for a children's story, then how would he be able to learn anything, like his alphabet.

When Yale was about 3 years old, he attended a day care center for 1/2 a day. He was very likeable and friendly there because I would get a telephone call from a stranger, who also had a child at the day care center and that strange woman would tell me that my son, Yale, had helped her son during a difficult time adjusting. Then Yale would be invited to birthday parties. I was very proud of him, but I was still worried.

He was OK in kindergarten or at least I do not remember any discussions with the teacher about poor behavior or learning skills.

When Yale started First Grade, I spoke to his teacher to ask her to let me know how he was doing, because I was afraid that Yale may be hyper active with Attention Deficit Disorder. The teacher did not get back to me until the very end of the school year, telling me that she felt that we should hold Yale back and not promote him to second grade. I was very upset with this teacher, who was pregnant. I felt that her mind was not on her job and Yale suffered because of her negligence. Sure enough after she had a baby, she never went back to teaching.

We had to hold Yale back because, as I suspected, he was not learning.

In order to get Yale on medication to help him learn for his next session of first grade, I needed an evaluation from the teacher to take to the Doctor. So I had to wait until the new first grade teacher saw that Yale was not learning, acquire a letter, or document from her and then get Yale on medication to calm him down. Meanwhile, as I was waiting for the teacher to formulate her thoughts, Yale was not learning. Then the teacher told me that she could not recommend medication for Yale. That Maryland State prevented teachers from getting involved. Good grief, it was a nightmare. I told her that I did not need her to recommend medication, I just need her to see that Yale was doing poorly in school and to document his abilities or lack thereof. Finally, she understood and the letter was sent my way.

I took the letter to the doctor and the doctor immediately prescribed Ritalin for Yale. Now get this. Yale started to get "A"'s right away. We were saved, only every time Yale would grow, he would out grow his medication and then start failing again. So I would need another letter from the teacher, to take the letter to the doctor. While I was waiting for the letter, Yale was not learning again. This was a common occurrence all the rest of his school years. Yale lost so much education, while I was waiting to improve on the dosage of medication.

Now we are in High School and I am still worried because even with the medicine, Yale's marks were just about average. He would get "C"s and then fail when he needed more medicine. But, Yale found his calling in High School when he joined a Work Study program and went to school part of the time and then went to work the other time. He learned how to cook. He was the only Jewish Pizza maker in Bel Air, Maryland.

When he graduated High School, he just continued to work in the Restaurant field and did well. He had an excellent work ethic; always working as needed, always on time, and sometimes working double shifts. Just as he excelled in Day Care, he was very likable on the job by his bosses. He was given the key to many of the places that he worked with the ability to open and close, which was a great responsibility for a young man.

Then one day, Yale said, "Mom, I'm never going to get anywhere in the restaurant business, if I don't learn more." He asked if he could go to a Culinary Arts school to learn how to be a Chef. "Will wonders never cease?"

I researched Culinary Arts Colleges on the internet to try to find a suitable match for him. I knew that if the College had a lot of textbook work, then Yale would not do well. He needed a College that would show him how to cook with very little written work.

The New England Culinary Institute had 75% kitchen work and 25% textbook. We took a trip to Vermont to look over the College and Yale was very impressed. With the help of student loans, Yale enrolled in their 2 year program, which included 2-internships in fine restaurants anyplace in the country or Europe. Yale did 2 - 6th month Internships; one in New Orleans and one in Nantucket. Yale received an Associates Degree in Culinary Arts and immediately acquired Restaurant Management positions and then taking a step back to do what he loves most, cook. He now is a very happy chef and I am a very happy, proud mother.

Some parents are concerned about getting their child on a program of Ritalin, but I for one am confident that if my son did not take this medication, he would not have achieved his goal in becoming a chef.

Blogging by Linda Koplovitz

I wrote in a diary for many years. Then I realized that while I was writing about the life I dreamed of that someone else was actually living that life. So I stopped writing in my diary.

It seems that these days everyone is blogging. My daughter does it very well. She has the ability to write whatever she's thinking about on many different topics and it's quite amusing to read.

But I'm a private person. I don't know if I want the world to be able to read everything that's in my head. What if I write something today and then don't like what I've written tomorrow. Can I erase my blog?

I don't know....I'm going to have to think about blogging before I actually publish what I'm thinking. So maybe I'm crazy writing a blog about blogging and my fear of blogging.

Will I be worried that people will think I'm crazy? You got that right.