How to Use What You Have (And What You Don't)

In class on Friday, we talked about money, and financial management.  We discussed ways to include the whole family in knowing about saving and spending.  We talked about problems that could arise (problems that end up costing money!) and how to be ready for them. 
My family has been very strongly middle-class my whole life.  Besides a few rough patches, we always at least had enough to get what we needed.  Growing up, my brothers and I had our few chores that we were simply expected to do, and if we wanted to earn a little money, there was extra work we could do.  That definitely taught us the lesson of working for what you wanted, and doing a good job if you hoped to get paid.
One thing I want to implement with my children (which I don't remember my parents doing with me) is to teach saving.  My mom always stressed that we pay our tithing first.  She never forced us to, but she would always graciously offer to take the 10% out before she paid us, and put it in an envelope on our behalf!  However, though she would council us to not spend our money for the sake of spending it, there was never an amount we were taught to put away and hold on to.  I think that's an important lesson to teach children, and it can easily be started.  If it becomes so automatic that it's more of a habit than a sacrifice, as the individual's earnings increase, so will their savings.
I think another thing that needs to be taught is only spending what you have.  This, thankfully, was something my mom taught me.  Credit cards make it so easy to buy things you can't afford, but too few people think about the fact that they're simply borrowing money, from someone who will charge them extra for not paying them back.  Debt, though acceptable in some situations, is not a good situation to be in.

Having Hope in Healing

Class this week sort of... took me outside of myself.  When I read that our main topic for the week was going to be dealing with stressors within the family, I very seriously considered skipping class.  My family has gone through some pretty hefty stuff in the last couple of years, and  I justwanted to bury my head in the sand until we were done, as I saw it, drawing things out.  I had taken Stress and Coping class before, and figured I knew what the healthy/unhealthy ways to take care of stress were.  What would there be for me to learn?
Turns out, there was plenty.  And I learned, just not in the way that I was expecting.  It was good for me to hear so many people talk about their problems.  That sounds worse typed out than it sounds in my head.  Sometimes it's refreshing to know that you're not alone, especially when your problems seem so earth shattering.  To see that it's not something so uniquely wrong or broken with your own family is... healthy.
I think if everything could be sunshine and rainbows, that would be fantastic.  But it's not.  Sometimes things are hard, and dark.  But we're not alone in the dark.  There are others out there.  Their hands are searching, seeking, and while we're lost in the dark, looking for our own light, we can find another hand, and at least hold on to that, knowing two people are no longer alone.

Teaching the Children

I'm not married, and I don't have children yet.  But just because that's the case, it doesn't mean I don't know what's going on involving children, and it doesn't mean I don't have well-informed opinions.
One of the things we discussed in class this past week was the way sex-ed is being taught in school.  When I was learning sex-ed, in middle school, the boys and girls were in seperate classes for the lessons, because the lessons focused on the human body, and the differences between the genders.  We learned about how a female's body changes, and what the changes would mean for sex and for procreation.  That's all remember.
Now, however, sex-ed is being taught in a completely different way.  Both males and females are being taught together.  The lessons are focusing much more on "safe sex", masturbation, a rating system of activities from french kissing to oral sex, etc. 
I believe there is an appropriate time and place for lessons such as these to be taught-- but I do not believe that the place is in the classroom.  It will be taught by teachers, who according to law, need to teach "by the book".  It does not sound like there is room to allow for the child's individuals beliefs, morals, or even comfort level.
Is this right?  Is it right for us to allow with others to deal with such a delicate subject in such a brash manner?  Not only in a way which has no regards to personal values, but in a way that lumps the individual child in with the whole of the classroom population.