Recipes for Living Christine Binning Baker

On March 18, 2002, Christine had time to tell her life story. She is enduring an enforced rest because of pre-term labor with her and Mark's second child, a baby brother for two-year old Kenny. She was willing to accept this advice rather than have a preemie, but she is not accustomed to such inactivity. She began teaching immediately after she graduated from college and has worked fulltime ever since. She also is aware of the additional responsibility this puts on Mark’s shoulders. Other than the time Kenny spends with the sitter, Mark has taken over all his care besides doing the cooking, cleaning and everything that needs to be done. He doesn't complain. He is a wonderful, caring husband and father-an outstanding role model for the children. When he told his story for the 1999 Recipes for Living, he told of growing up in a home of loving parents and a neighborhood of people who cared about him. Mark and Christine hope to provide this kind of background for their family.

They have the foundation for that. Although Mark's grandparents have passed away, Kenny has the unusual advantage of having four grandparents and four great-grandparents living close by. Grandparents Mark and Vickie Binning and Ken and Pat Baker live in Osceola. There is never a week that he doesn't see them. His great-grandparents, Vernon and Glendola Binning, live near Van Wert and Grandmother Vickie's parents, Virgil and Betty Williams, live in Weldon. He sees them often as well. He even knew his great-great grandmother, Gladys Binning, who was in a nursing home in Leon until her death August 31, 2002 at age 103.

The spacing between children is as Mark and Christine wished. There will be almost exactly a two-year span, Kenny having been born in March and this baby is due April 27. Indications are that the baby is growing and is the perfect size at this stage. Christine is carefully checking everything with What to Expect When You're Expecting by Eisenberger, which she highly recommends to all prospective parents. If everything continues to go well, it is possible that Christine will be able to go back to teaching for a few weeks, providing she is cautious.

At this point the new baby is unnamed. That was not a problem with Kenny. They named him for his paternal grandfather, but it is already confusing to have a father and grandfather both named Mark, so that cannot be this baby's name. They do not want a trendy name, but something "solid" and easy to pronounce.

Christine recognizes that having the second child is not a repeat of the first. She had no problems when she was pregnant with Kenny, but with the new baby she had morning sickness for three months during which she lost 15 pounds. She carried Kenny full term and remembers how frightened she was when she and Mark left the hospital with the newborn baby. Until then there had been doctors and nurses on hand, but she felt very inexperienced when they were alone and solely responsible. Now she knows they can handle that. She remembers when the baby was little, how people told her the years would fly past. She thought they were wrong. Would Kenny ever get out of diapers? But it does happen and now she thinks they were probably right. It is just that when those years are gone, there is no going back

She has more confidence now, but she also thinks that there will be new challenges - contending with the lack of sleep when there is a newborn and the boundless energy of a twoyear-old. She wonders about the interaction between the two. Will Kenny feel that he has to give up some of the attention he is getting? They've been trying to prepare him for what will happen. They are not sure how much Kenny understands about the baby in Mommy's tummy. In Mark’s family there were two boys, so he probably doesn’t think of all the things Christine does, having been a single girl child. She has wondered if her dad would like to have had a boy to share his love of motorcycles and cars, but anyone who knows the family doesn't wonder.

Kenny is now at the stage where he knows his grandparents and how to relate to each one: With "Papa Mark" he plays motorcycles and cars; with "Papa Ken" he does computers, reads books, and plays with Ken's collection of die-cast trucks, and the exercise bike. Mark and Christine are so grateful to have Paula Motsinger for their sitter, with her degree in psychology and a boy Kenny’s age to play with. That completes Kenny's circle of family and friends.

Unlike many of Christine's peers who have scattered throughout the country, she has been delighted to stay and pursue her career here. Although she lived in Woodburn in her very early life, the family moved to Osceola when she was pre-school age. Except for college, all her schooling has been in Clarke Community Schools. The room where she is teaching now was a room in which she was taught. Even when she taught in south Des Moines and Saydel, she lived in Osceola and commuted.

Christine never was tempted by things that were temptations to some of her contemporaries. She gives credit to friends who were of the same inclination. They didn't smoke or drink, so there was no peer pressure. She also gives credit to her parents, who always made her friends welcome at the Binnings' home. The love and encouragement she received from her entire family gave her such a sense of security. She would never have done anything to disappoint them. Also, her home was stable. She cannot remember ever hearing her father raise his voice, and although she supposes that her parents must have argued because that is natural, it never happened in her presence. She noted that her husband, Mark, is of the same temperament.

There were other positive influences: Birthdays were always big occasions with a party every year. Her 21st birthday was in contrast to some young people who reach their majority. They often choose to celebrate in bars, having attained the legal drinking age. Christine's choice was to have a dinner party with her parents and grandparents.

Her involvement kept her mind occupied. She was in National Honor Society, loved band, basketball, and football cheerleading. She was in musicals and Octagon Club, which was started when she was in high school. It was sponsored by Optimists' Club. In addition to the fellowship it provided, they did service projects particularly in support of Cystic Fibrosis research. In every instance, her parents and often her grandparents were there to support her activities and/or to watch her perform. She thinks back to the hours her parents spent on the road in order to attend events. All of this has had an impact on her teaching and parenting. She has observed that children raise or lower their behavior patterns according to expectations.

Christine graduated from Clarke Community High School, went on to Iowa State University and graduated from there in 1998. She joined a sorority and lived in their house. Even though the Greek system gets lots of bad press because of hazing, etc., for her it was her family away from home. Living in the dorm seemed to her like hotel living, but in their house there was a living room, family room, kitchen, and a dining room where the girls ate together and meals were served family style. The sorority raised money for Alzheimer’s' victims, went to visit nursing homes, and activities of like nature. Each year they had Mom's Day in the fall and Dad's Day in spring, and her parents always came. Christine was a hockey cheerleader. Her parents came to those games and for other events as well.

There was no question about Christine's major-she had always known she wanted to teach. The first years the courses were general but the focus of the last two years was on education. She did her student teaching in the Head Start program on the south side of Des Moines. It was there that she became aware of a side of life far different than what she had seen in her own home. Head Start is a program that has been offered for low income families since 1965. It is designed to teach the most basic deportment to children who may not have had that training at home. This includes how to eat with utensils and behave at the table, how to brush teeth, use the bathroom, wash hands, and interact with an authority figure and other children. The latter part of her student teaching was first grade in Saydel. These were upper middle-class children. Such a difference!

Christine moved back home before student teaching. It was at this time, in 1998, that a mutual friend, Sue Steams, introduced Christine and Mark Baker. They discovered they had a lot in common. Christine loved his values-he was family oriented, stable, and they had the same goals for life and children. He preferred a small town to a city. He liked Osceola, just as she did, and they hit it off from the beginning. Mark proposed on the anniversary of their first date. They became engaged and were married in 1999, Kenny was born in 2000, and in 2002 they are expecting their new baby.

During the '98-'99 school year, Christine taught Head Start in Southeast Polk. She was so excited to have a job! The job market was saturated. People had warned her not to get her hopes up, that she might have to spend a year sub-ing. It was hard to wait for something to happen. She had worked all her life for this and really wanted it!

When the opportunity came, she was elated. She had 16 kids, all four years old, with a fulltime aide. The adults could work with them one-on-one. Her parents were understandably nervous about it. In this job, Christine was working in a high crime area with children at risk. There were homes without phones, and parents without transportation. Trying to hold parent teacher conferences was frustrating. Notes were sent home but not read. Home visits were required but how to schedule them? In the beginning she made home visits alone, which later was not considered wise, and the director is now always accompanied by another person.

However, Christine never had a problem. The families were very respectful. For the children, the teacher coming to visit was exciting! They always wanted to show her their bedroom. No matter if their houses were dilapidated, the children took pride in them and wanted the teacher to see it all.

The downside of that year was the 70 mile commute, which meant driving 140 miles every day. The weather was often a problem. It seemed worse in Osceola than at Southeast Polk. When school might be called off for the Osceola area, it would be held as usual there. The drive made the days unusually long, and it was a relief when she had a chance to work closer to home. She taught Head Start in Murray from 1999 until 2001.

Christine found Murray to be a wonderful school. The entire town is so supportive of the school and the staff. The whole community attends every scheduled event. They had not had a lot of experience with pre-school, but it was well received. There was time for naps, snacks, and working one-on-one with the children.

By the year 2001-2002 Christine was ready to teach more academic skills and was delighted to be employed in kindergarten in the Clarke system. This is home! This is where Kenny and his brother will attend. It is good to be here!

Christine's wonderful home life has not dulled her senses to children who have no such opportunities. Osceola has made wonderful progress in many ways. There has been growth and development, but there are people caught in an economic struggle. She confesses that she brings school home with her and sometimes wakes up in the night thinking about the little ones she works with at school. Forty percent-almost half-of the children in Clarke County are in poverty. Nearly 40% are eligible for free or reduced cost lunches. She insists that her students go down for breakfast at school because some of them give evidence that they've not had enough or maybe nothing to eat before they come. Some children literally fall asleep in her classroom. It throws up a red flag that something may be wrong at home - not enough rest, nothing to eat before coming to school. There could be any number of reasons, and Christine becomes very watchful to see if she can discern the problem.

Along with many others, Christine wonders what the 2002 state budget cut will do to teaching positions. Contracts will come out at the end of April. Might the teachers' aides be eliminated? She appreciates the one who helps her 30 minutes in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. Will the class that is called Junior First be done away with? Those are the children who need extra attention to get them ready for first grade. Kindergarten is where ground work is done- the children learn the alphabet, to recognize and write numbers, and recognize patterns. They learn about money and how to tell time. Some children have no problem- in fact, some are reading words at that level, but for others learning is more difficult and they benefit from extra help.

Christine has heard it said that kids drop out of school in kindergarten. For many of them, that is their first exposure to structure. It is there that they discover what is expected of them, and there that they decide how they feel about teachers and school. That doesn't leave them. They carry it with them all through their school experience. Christine allows herself to be pressured by this. Even though she knows that if something is wrong, it can be peers or some other aspect of their experience, but she looks to herself to see if there might have been something she could have done differently.

But she treasures the opportunity to work with this age. Pre-schoo1ers and kindergartners still look up to their teachers. By fourth and fifth grade they are in a different relationship with them. But what fun it is to get a scribbled note from a child with xoxox (hugs and kisses) at the bottom. Some of the kids call her on the phone now or send cards, and it means they have not forgotten her. That means a lot!