Today I realised how much THINKING makes a photograph. My photographs are mostly unintentional little moments of life caught almost by a chance. Thinking is time-consuming and my time belongs to my kids most of the time. Today I even thought I lost it with photography, I thought I can’t do photography any more, only snaps. It was a snap day today, a typical family outing with a camera on hand to ‘record memories’. No more than that. So what will be next?
Is, to my mind, a revolting US import designed to get entirely on my nerves and turn the kids into complete monsters seeking their next sugar rush.
Lucky then, that I am going out.
I wanted to get away from baking and birthdays today so I could better concentrate on the main b in life – betting. Yet again though I am struck down by the curse of Saturday, too many cards and not enough time. I started looking at them yesterday in the hope of stealing a march on the rest of you, but there is just too much. Newmarket has some enormous fields with some nice quality and then the jumps have the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby and some jumping action at Ascot. Added to all that, the football fan has ants in his pants because the Arsenal face the old enemy at lunchtime and he will be hideously encumbered with kids for the day. So I am going to have make this snappy!
The Charlie Hall Chase is an historic sort of race but lately it suffers from being run at Wetherby. It seems to have had smallish fields over the last few years, so the recent negative publicity surrounding the ground conditions and fatalities have not necessarily a factor in today’s field of 5 going to post. Paul Nicholls writes in today’s Post that he would like it moved – not because of the track but because he would like better ground – which more or less amounts to the same thing. I wonder if he has the BHA’s ear to that extent?
I can’t tell you anything you can’t work out for yourself in today’s race really. I would love Ollie Magern to take this following his wins in 2005 & 2007. Racing is full of cliches but I defy anyone to watch Ollie Magern in his first race of the season and not fully understand the term “spring-heeled”. When on song (which is in the Charlie Hall Chase for the last 3 years, 2nd last year under a 10lb penalty!) there is no more delightful chaser to watch. He just makes you feel glad to be alive. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of this lad and these front-running, early season debuts seem to take their toll, so if you are an Ollie backer catch him now whilst he’s hot.
Others are for Tamarinbleu who also goes well fresh and yet more think Evan Williams’ Deep Purple may be the one with more to come in the field. Deep Purple is certainly an interesting contender, some think he won’t stay, but race comments suggest he wasn’t stopping over 2 and a half last year. Personally I think this track and the distance are not going to be ideal for him, we know Evan Williams has a good track record in this race with State of Play, but he was a Hennessy winner and more of a staying type. Snoopy Loopy is lumping the top-weight and Michael Hourigan sends over Church Island to complete the field. On reflection, I think it is between Ollie and Tamarinbleu. See, I can’t tell you anything you don’t already know!
In the John Smith Hurdle I am backing Fair Along (hopefully on song after a prep run in the Ces) and at Newmarket I am taking on the Godolphin hot favourite Prince Siegfried with a filly, Saphira’s Fire, who ran nicely over a touch too far lto and drops back to the optimum 10f this afternoon. I also like Revered and Shaweel at HQ this afternoon, but I readily acknowledge that the wheels are starting to fall off my flat wagon at the fag-end of the season.
Good luck to those who are playing and please let Arsenal beat Happy Harry’s Halloween Hotspurs…
Purely for luck you understand
Great joy was had today by Sweet 5 and Strong 6.
A perfect day to race big wheel and trike down the mountain drive.
Many races were held. Winners traded places.
Then- the ….crash.
Spoken amidst tears and great consternation…
“I am never going to ride bikes again. You get so—- dirty!!!”
Dirt was found in some unique places. Thankfully, no blood or scratches.
That’s my girl….
I am sure she will ride bikes again- hair streaming in the wind, legs tucked up, joy stretched across her face.
I am sure she will beat strong six again, too. Much to his consternation. She is one fast little cookie.
But
she is still my feminine wonder.
My marvel.
Growing up amidst those strong saplings.
She can hold her own.
But she is still my girl.
The Pacific walrus needs your help. In response to a petition and lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently considering listing the walrus under the Endangered Species Act. The public has until November 9 to call on the service to list this imperiled Arctic giant.
Please take action now to speak up for the Pacific walrus. Let the federal government know that these unique animals cannot survive without the protections of the Endangered Species Act.
Click here to find out more and take action. .I am feeling much calmer today. Partly this is due to the fact that I haven’t had to drive anywhere, partly due to the fact that I have found some shorts in the lost property box that I have dictatorially decided are Tallulah’s, and partly because it is now half past ten at night and I have half an essay finished, which is good. Jason has also very kindly suggested I put Oscar in nursery tomorrow and write the other half during the day when I am not paralysed with tiredness. I have gratefully taken him up on the offer and I am feeling considerably less pressured. I am also clearer on what the shape of the second half of the essay will be, which is encouraging.
It’s probably going to look a bit like a rabbit, sitting on a fence, looking slightly offended.
Or something.
At least it has a shape. Shape is good.
I also, I think, have got my head around the referencing, which as I suspected was more to do with my state of mind and the lateness of the hour than anything too traumatic. It may still be wrong, but it looks o.k. and with Andrea and Mrs. Jones as my wingmen I feel that the referencing may well turn out to be the star turn of the whole essay. In fact I may not bother to do anything else but reference lots of other people who have all said it better than me, and go home for a lie down and a bun.
I have tons of things to tell you, none of which are in the slightest bit important or interesting, but which I have been noting down and thinking; ‘Oooh!’ and ‘Aaah!’ Unfortunately they will all have to wait until tomorrow, or even the next day, depending on the essay. I need to go and reread bits of the very excellent ‘Bloody Chamber’ by Angela Carter, and think about Freud, which is not so excellent but a bit necessary. Just think; ‘holes and ladders, trains and tunnels, cocaine and hysteria.’
I shall return with a clearer head and more entertainment. In the meantime I thought I’d leave you with another favourite poem. It isn’t funny, but it is lush and gorgeous and about as exciting as poetry gets (for me, anyway). It is by Ted Hughes. It’s probably about Yorkshire, but whenever I read it, it takes me back to when I lived in Wales. It’s called ‘Wind’. No sniggering at the back please.
Wind
This house has been far out at sea all night,
The woods crashing through darkness, the booming hills,
Winds stampeding the fields under the window
Floundering black astride and blinding wet
Till day rose; then under an orange sky
The hills had new places, and wind wielded
Blade-light, luminous black and emerald,
Flexing like the lens of a mad eye.
At noon I scaled along the house-side as far as
The coal-house door. Once I looked up -
Through the brunt wind that dented the balls of my eyes
The tent of the hills drummed and strained its guyrope,
The fields quivering, the skyline a grimace,
At any second to bang and vanish with a flap;
The wind flung a magpie away and a black-
Back gull bent like an iron bar slowly. The house
Rang like some fine green goblet in the note
That any second would shatter it. Now deep
In chairs, in front of the great fire, we grip
Our hearts and cannot entertain book, thought,
Or each other. We watch the fire blazing,
And feel the roots of the house move, but sit on,
Seeing the window tremble to come in,
Hearing the stones cry out under the horizons.
I flew down to Melbourne last weekend to attend my nephew’s wedding. I bought myself a little compact digital camera for my trip to the states next month so decided to try it out at the wedding. The pics weren’t too bad considering….
The Bride & Groom and her daughters with my brother and his wife.
My Niece and her hubby
My gorgeous Great Nephew – Master J
The Bride & Groom
My sister and my brother.
Here is another beautiful piece I wanted to share. The author is unknown. But WOW! It is really filled with some good reminders for us as we love our special children . . .
Beatitudes for People with Special Needs
BLESSED ARE YOU who take time to listen to difficult speech, for you help us to know that if we persevere we can be understood.
BLESSED ARE YOU who walk with us in public places, and ignore the stares of strangers, for in your friendship we feel good to be ourselves.
BLESSED ARE YOU who never bid us to “hurry up” and, more blessed, you who do not snatch our tasks from our hands to do them for us, for often we need time rather than help.
BLESSED ARE YOU who stand beside us as we enter new and untried ventures, for our unsuredness will be outweighed by the times when we surprise ourselves and you.
BLESSED ARE YOU who ask for our help and realize our giftedness for our greatest need is to be needed.
BLESSED ARE YOU who help us with the graciousness of Christ, for often we need the help we cannot ask for.
BLESSED ARE YOU when, by all things, you assure us that what makes us individuals is not our particular disability or difficulty but our beautiful God-given personhood which no handicapping condition can confine.
REJOICE AND BE EXCEEDINGLY GLAD for your understanding and love have opened doors for us to enjoy life to its full and you have helped us believe in ourselves as valued and gifted people.
ÁFRICA | Métodos ’salvajes’
El arma letal del aborto clandestino en MarruecosErena Calvo | Rabat
Una menor de edad embarazada. | E. C.A sus azarosos 16 años, Leila tiene ya una gran experiencia en jugarse la vida. Su matriz da fe de ello. Como miles y miles de niñas de la calle en Marruecos, vagabundea todo el día con un único objetivo: Encontrar pegamento con el que esnifar y olvidar su triste existencia. A Leila la repudiaron en su casa por mantener una relación extramatrimonial y quedar embarazada. Abortó. Volvió a hacerlo una segunda vez y también una tercera.
En la medina de Rabat, con un bote de pegamento entre sus sucias y estropeadas manos, cuenta su experiencia sin darle mucha importancia. “No tenía dinero, ni a nadie a quien recurrir, aborté yo sola con un pincho y fue muy doloroso, física y psíquicamente”. Fue después de ese trago cuando llegaron el pegamento y la prostitución. La primera vez tenía sólo 13 años.
En Marruecos el aborto está castigado por la ley y sólo se puede practicar sin terminar entre rejas en caso de que la vida de la madre corra peligro. Sin embargo, según la Asociación de Planificación Familiar, se realizan entre 650 y 800 interrupciones de embarazo al día —la mayoría, clandestinas— y la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) asegura que el 13% de la mortalidad materna está estrechamente relacionada con esta práctica.
Para las mujeres que abortan clandestinamente, la ley contempla de seis meses a dos años de prisión. Para el practicante, entre uno y cinco años de cárcel, que pueden llegar a 20 si la paciente muere en el intento. Los métodos que se emplean son “salvajes”, cuenta Mohamed Graigaa, director de la Asociación Marroquí de Planificación Familiar.
“Se introducen pinchos y ácidos en la vagina o ingieren plantas presuntamente abortivas; a veces lo hacen ellas solas o ayudadas por médicos o enfermeras y en la peor de las ocasiones por charlatanes”, explica Graigaa. Les empuja el “miedo” al repudio de su familia y su entorno, lo que lleva a muchas mujeres a hacer “lo que sea” para desembarazarse del bebé. “Hemos constatado que muchos de estos embarazos se desencadenan, además, tras violaciones“.
Para garantizar la supervivencia de las madres y reducir la mortalidad materna, la Asociación Marroquí de Planificación Familiar, junto a la Asociación Marroquí de Lucha contra el Aborto Clandestino, ha abierto en Marruecos el debate por un aborto libre.
Y en 2008 llevaron su liberalización al Parlamento de la mano de los islamistas moderados de Justicia y Desarrollo. “Es necesario que analicemos bien qué está pasando, derribar los tabúes y apostar por la salud; en Túnez se permite el aborto y se practica hasta 30 veces menos“, afirma Graigaa.
“Nuestro caballo de batalla es que se permita la interrupción voluntaria del embarazo dentro de los primeros 40 días de la gestación”. Tras esas ocho semanas, su propuesta es que se pueda abortar en caso de violación, si la madre tiene problemas mentales y si hay malformaciones del feto. “Pero para conseguirlo, habría que llegar a un consenso con los Ulemas”, las autoridades religiosas.
Krivam, imam en Casablanca, asegura que el islam no prohíbe estrictamente ni el aborto ni el uso de anticonceptivos. “El profeta llegó a emplear métodos naturales en su época para evitar dejar encinta a su mujer”, cuenta. Krivam especifica: “Con 40 días, además, el bebé aún no es un ser humano”. Transcurrido ese plazo, según el Corán, los ángeles de Dios insuflan el alma al niño.
ProstituciónLa prohibición “es contraproducente” y las mujeres “terminan abortando al precio que sea”, da fe Graigaa. La interrupción voluntaria del embarazo puede oscilar entre los 200 y los 2.000 euros. “Y muchas mujeres incluso se prostituyen para alcanzar esa suma”.
Y después del aborto, “y también para evitar el repudio y el rechazo de un futuro marido”, muchas veces llega la reconstrucción del himen, cuenta El Aji Fadua, consejera en el centro de planificación familiar de la Asociación de Graigaa, situada a pocos kilómetros de Rabat. Esta operación “cuesta entre 300 y 700 euros y el médico lo que hace es reconstruir la virginidad de la mujer”.
A pesar de ser muy religiosa, El Aji está “curada de espanto”. A su consulta, explica, “acuden cada día decenas y decenas de mujeres con expectativas de abortar; temen el rechazo social”. Y dice que no es un problema localizado en un grupo determinado. “Recibimos a mujeres jóvenes y maduras, solteras y casadas, y de todas las clases sociales”.
Mientras suena la oración en la medina, Leila sigue esnifando y hablando. Hablando y esnifando. Sabe que el aborto es “haram” (prohibido), pero no tiene la menor idea de que algunos actores de su sociedad luchan por cambiar esta situación. Lo único que sabe a ciencia cierta es que su familia olvidó su cara cuando se quedó embarazada y que la echaron sin piedad. Y que, en sus circunstancias, no puede tener un niño.
“¿Cómo voy a hacerlo?”, se pregunta sorprendida. Asevera que no puede a veces ni cuidar de ella misma. “Lo poco que gano limosneando lo gasto en esto”, afirma mientras señala el pegamento. “¿Qué sería de mi niño?, acabaría siendo un niño perdido, como lo soy yo”.
Fuente original: http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/10/24/internacional/1256407646.html
I think for most kids, school papers are as unexciting as tuna noodle cassoarole. But for some of us, like my younger sister, school papers are an opportunity to spice up life and give the teacher something to laugh about. With no further ado, I give you a middle-school homework assignment.
How to Fall Off a Mountain
To fall off a mountain, you first need to get there. To get there, you need someone to drive you there. To get someone to drive you there, you pay them $80.00. Make them drive you to a mountain that is 1,879,683 miles from your house. When you get there, step out of your car with your left foot first. Step away from teh car and wtch the person who drove you there drive away. Then sigh for six seconds. Put your right foot in front of your left foot. Then move your left foot in front of your right one. Start moving forward. Repeat the process until you get to the top of the mountain. When you get to the very tip-top of the moutain, stand very tall. Sneeze really hard and tip backwards. Fall until you’ve reached the bottom.
The End
A child disappears in a crowd at the fair. A toddler wanders out an open door. A teen doesn’t return from the mall. Every year, hundreds of thousands of kids in the U.S. are reported “missing.”
Here’s one important suggestion: have information that helps identify your child ready to hand to law enforcement the instant you report your child missing.
We recommend a kit distributed through the National Child Identification Program started by the American Football Coaches Association in 1997. The FBI has been a partner in this program since 2002.
Each package includes:
Recording your child’s fingerprints is particularly important. Why? Not only because everyone’s fingerprints are unique, but also because they don’t change over time like physical appearances. We also recommend that you update the photos of your kids in the kits at least once a year.
Are the fingerprints or other information in the kits kept by the FBI? No! You keep the kits and fingerprints yourselves in a safe place…and provide the information to us only in case of emergency. Even then, we don’t keep the information in our records permanently without your permission.
Where can you get a kit? You can order one—for a small fee—through the National Child Identification Program website. The kits are also distributed free at select college football games across the country in partnership with local FBI offices. Check with your local FBI office to see if they are sponsoring a game this fall.
This year, we are working with the National Night Out organization, which helps communities nationwide hold anti-crime activities once a year. Along with the coaches association, we hope to set a new single-day record for distributing free identification kits during National Night Out events on August 1.
“It’s a neat program,” said Thomas E. Bush III, our assistant director for Criminal Justice Information Services, which coordinates the FBI’s involvement in the program. “It’s a great tool for parents have at their disposal to help protect their children.”
Links: Crimes Against Children | The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The following cartoons, a cartoon dog flashing teeth and a trotting cartoon goat are available on the market place at Spreadshirt. If you click the images, you will be able to add the design to T-Shirts, apparel and accessories and customise your item.
Cheerful Madness!! online shop at Spreadshirt
Spreadshirt Market Place Design
Trotting Cartoon Black Goat by Cheerful Madness!!
Spreadshirt Market Place Design
Bow Wow! Black Cartoon Dog by Cheerful Madness!!
Is it counterproductive to take pictures of your kids as they are on their way out the door to have their pictures taken at school? I couldn’t help myself because they were too adorable. And they still let me dress them alike. Yeah, I’m one of those annoying Moms and I love it. I won’t do it forever. Just until they are eighteen or get a job and leave my house. No, I’m kidding. I’m realizing the window for alike dressing is soon to be closing. Until then, my boys are going to rock it out identically.
I’m still sick and achy. Now it seems my overall body soreness has crept up to my neck and my throat is hurting. I think my fever is back (although I’m guessing it never left to begin with) and I’m feeling yucky. I sucked it up today as best I could. This was the first day both boys were back at school in long while and I needed to take advantage of their absence. I cranked on errands and household duties. I held strong for the first part of the day and now I feel like a pile of well, you know what.
I’m sure that if you if you are reading this you are thinking ‘Go to the doctor you silly girl’ (yes, I like to imagine you referring to me as a girl as much as possible, when you are over thirty it helps). I will in due time. If you are a Mom (or Dad for that matter) and are reading this you understand that I still have at least another day or so of being miserable before I make time to go see a healthcare professional. As a parent you have to be sick in a major, major way to allow for a medical intervention. It’s too inconvenient. When you finally do have a spare moment, you find that you have a list of about one hundred and thirty-seven things on your to-do list that take precedence (oh, like I don’t know, making sure your family has clean underwear or maybe food). And you know you always, always could pack up your kids and take them with you to the walk-in clinic but who in their right mind would want to do that? If you weren’t sick before you go you will certainly be sick (mentally) by the time you leave there.
All I hope is that by Frack’s real birthday celebration this Saturday I feel my best. Otherwise, no amount of liquor or consumption of Transformer, decorated sugar will get me through. I only have myself to blame (oh yeah, and motherhood, too!).
View entire photo set >>
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 — On Saturday, American Red Cross Jumpstart Kits arrived in American Samoa, an area that is recovering from the September 29 tsunami. The kit has items to help disaster victims with their short-term, immediate requirements, as well as aid for the long term. Each kit contains two blankets, a combination hand-crank radio, flashlight and cell phone charger, a mesh laundry bag, a first aid kit, note pad and pen, work gloves, face masks and a bath-in-a-bag all in one convenient, durable Red Cross backpack.
Read more >>
My baby boy is now fourteen months. He is no longer a helpless, fragile bundle of limbs, but an eager explorer of the world around him. I remember the early days of his life and I marvel at how far we have come. The nights he wouldn’t sleep, the mornings when I felt like death, the throbbing, painful wound across my hips, and the agonizing struggle to get him to nurse, have all been replaced by peaceful nights, hugs and kisses, laughter and learning.
The journey as we got to know each other has not always been easy, there have been stumbles and false starts, the path littered with tears and heavy sighs, but we’ve made it. We have passed the colic pains, the crying fits and ear infections, and I am relishing his budding independence, his sense of wonder and his delighted reactions to every new discovery. There have been many highs full of joy, and some deep, distressing lows. The happy moments have filled my heart and given me a taste of what it means to love someone instinctively, before you even know them. The lows I could do without, but they too have taught me something, I have learned that they will pass, that a cool head will get things done, and that tantrums and crying fits don’t last forever. I have learned too, that sometimes I need help, and that knowing when to walk away and regroup is better than letting anger have its way.
Breastfeeding proved a most difficult, unexpected challenge. I considered myself a bit of an old hand to whom the act of feeding her child came naturally, and my first baby nursed well from the very first day, but none of that mattered with my new son. I decided to give birth in Pakistan instead of making the journey back to the United States, for logistical and financial reasons, and unfortunately birthing facilities here are not built with breastfeeding in mind, even the good, modern hospital where I delivered had a single recovery ward where patients are kept for 24 hours after surgery. My baby was not allowed in the ward due to the risk of infection, and by the time I was moved to my room, my son had taken a dozen or so bottles of formula in his first day of life. He learned to suckle with a silicon nipple, and he didn’t seem to like my breast at all. He was hungry all the time, and whenever I gave in and fed him formula, his obvious relief added to my guilt and anguish.
Sheer determination and my husband’s encouragement made me persevere, but I felt frustrated and useless, and many times I almost gave up. It was much easier to put the struggle on hold, just this once I would say to myself, and make up a bottle, but in spite of that I kept trying every day, hoping to give my baby a chance to learn to latch-on properly, all the while pumping to maintain my milk supply and supplementing his feed with formula. I weaned him off the bottle when he was three months old, and now my boy nurses like a champ, the little bear!
My son is that rare thing in our family, a let-me-try-it, I-like-it, give-me-more kind of eater, who rejects baby cereal in favor of olives and tomatoes, bell peppers, chicken and lentil soup. He is easy to please, with a calm, gentle temperament, a healthy curiosity and a streak of wily determination that should serve him well in the years to come.
His wiry little legs carry him as fast as he will go, his face bunched in concentration, his hand pointing towards his goal, a look expectation and a little bit of mischief shining in his eyes. He loves to be outside, sometimes he comes and grabs my finger, says something to me in his tongue-twisting speech and heads towards the door. Birds and lizards are his friends, he shrieks excitedly when they sit for a minute on the fence, and he hums a tuneless little song as he toddles around our tiny patch of grass.
Maybe the years that have passed since my daughter’s birth, and all the changes that have ensued since then, have made me see things more clearly, have enabled me to handle the unending responsibilities and constant exertions better, but mothering my boy feels much easier. I am more secure in myself as a mother, I trust my judgement more and I seem to enjoy the little things in life. When my daughter was born five years ago, my life was very different. My husband and I worked constantly, and there was no barrier separating our work from our personal life, the stress and pressure seeping into everything we did, including parenting. Looking back on that time I feel robbed of the serenity that I needed to bond with my daughter as I should have. Living in Pakistan has its drawbacks, to be sure, but being here means that I can stay home and dedicate myself to raising my children without jeopardizing our financial stability, and for that I am grateful.
I am there to witness every milestone, to soothe away the tears and listen to every story. Sometimes I lie down on the bed with my little son, his eyes looking straight into mine, his legs curled against me, and I smile. I smile because I am happy, my heart is open and love feels natural, uncomplicated and free. I am keeping this special time in my heart, treasuring the hugs, the shaky steps and funny faces. I want to keep them safe in my memory forever, the looks and sounds and words etched in my mind so I never lose them, even when I’m old and dried, and many years have passed.
This has been a magical time, full of fun and tenderness, despite the hard work. My son has been a beautiful, lovable piece of heaven, a soft, roly-poly morsel to hug and kiss, a cooing, smiley face that has kindled my affections with every curl of his lips and every twinkle of his eye. Yet the best part of all is that I know that there is more to come. I am eager to meet the little boy he will become, I am ready and full of hope for the future.
“It is true that the children learn writing spontaneously…but what is really important is their changed behavior. Man is not made of culture alone; there is something much more essential. If this part continues to be disregarded and emphasis put only on culture, the more advanced man becomes, the more dangerous he will be. Man has discovered flight, he has discovered atomic energy, but he has failed to discover himself.” – Mario Montessori (foreword to The Secret of Childhood).
I still remember the first time that three-year old Monica’s mom went on a business trip and left her with the dad. The child instantly transformed from bubbly and affectionate to defiant and uncooperative. In one instance, after several temper tantrums and angry outbursts, Monica took off her shoe, looked me straight in the eye, and licked the grimy sole of the black Mary Jane. Externally, I didn’t react, but internally my heart broke for the little blonde.
At this point, I had not been made aware of what was happening at home, so I was at a loss to figure out the girl’s behavioral shift. I didn’t want to get the parents involved because they’re the typical ‘helicopter parents’ who would keep me on the phone for an hour. However, I caved and called them after four days of increasing behavioral issues. I asked the mom if they were trying something new at home or if there had been any changes to Monica’s routine. “Uh, not that I can think of,” replied the mom airily. Then she paused. “Well, I did just come back from a business trip last night, and this was the first time I had ever been away from her, but other than that…”
Duh.
Six months later, I received advance warning from the dad regarding mom’s upcoming business trip. As expected, 3.8-year old Monica came into the classroom on Monday and made one bad choice after another, playing with the materials, interrupting her classmates, and refusing to respond to adults’ requests. I observed her the first day and limited her freedom to help get her back on the right path towards productive work. Nothing I did seemed to be helping, however, and she came back the next day more wound up than the day prior.
At the first instance of improper behavior, I took her aside, crouched down to her height, looked her in the eye and asked point-blank: “Monica, do you miss your mommy?” She smiled and looked at the floor. “Yeah,” she said softly.
“How do you feel?” I prodded. “Sad…” was the semi-whispered answer, eyes still downcast.
That’s when I realized how I could help her. “Monica, do you want to write your mommy a letter?” Her blue eyes instantly met mine and widened. “Yes!”
Before I had finished saying “Let’s take out the movable alphabet” she headed towards the rugs, diligently set up her work area and materials, and found someone to help her straighten the letters in the large box.
“What do you want to write?” I asked her when she was ready. “Moni,” she replied, referring to her nickname, and began pulling out the letters to make the word. When she finished, she looked at me.
“What else do you want to write?” I continued. “I don’t know,” she said, shrugging.
“Do you want to write ‘Moni is sad’?” I asked cautiously. Again, her big blue eyes got even bigger. “Yes!” she said, and dove into the movable alphabet. As I spoke with nearby children, I could hear her sounding out the words: “sssss… sssss… here’s the ’s’!”
She worked with focus and a sense of purpose for several minutes, and called me over when she had finished her sentence. “OK, now I want to write it on paper,” she said. Because she had always written on the chalkboard and not on lined writing paper, I took out a sheet and got ready to show her how to use it. Before I could start, I was interrupted by a glass that broke across the room, so I stood up to help clean the mess (we don’t allow children to sweep glass). When I came back to Monica’s side, she had already begun to write her sentence on paper, in mangled, but to my eyes absolutely beautiful, cursive letters. I walked away quietly, content to be a silent observer. She spent another ten minutes focused on this endeavor, and when she finished she showed me the product of her work. I asked her how she felt. “Good,” was the energetic reply, accompanied by a genuinely happy smile and a spontaneous hug.
She spent the rest of the day choosing purposeful work, following the rules, and being a productive member of the classroom society. As she walked to her car in the afternoon, her little hand clutched the folder that carried her handwritten letter to mommy.
Teeter-totter, teeter-totter find me a way
To bump my chin, to make me bray
See-saw, see-saw what do you say
Get together with a friend, come and play.
It takes two to teeter-totter. You see, then you saw. It helps if the teeterer and totterer are of more or less similar weight. The teeter-totter can be an early lesson in building trust, or not. You trust that your chum will not leave you up in the air legs dangling with your groin being pulled by gravitational force into the metal hand rest. There are worse fates in the trust betrayed sweepstakes. That dangling feeling can turn on a dime. You could come plummeting to the earth, butt smacking the ground, knees around your ear lobes, teeth rattling inside your head. This is not the desired gentle let down from highest heights. It’s abrupt, brutish and can be painful.
Fulcrum fun seems to be an endangered species in Greater Halifax. Tallahassee Sisters II (map) is the first, though not the only, playground we’ve found with a small coterie of teeter-totters (photos). Noah-David is a great big brother with Nellie-Rose pumping her up and down with his little arms. He tries some solo work too and quickly realizes that there’s not a lot of excitement in that approach.
I seem to recollect a greater prevalence of teeter-totters across the land but this is purely a hunch. I’ll have to query the municipal administration and ask if there is a concerted effort to reduce, or remove teeter-totters from our playgrounds. Is the see-saw a vanishing breed? I wonder, what happens to decommissioned teeter-totters?
I pump the two kids up and down for awhile with my arms. It’s fun enough but doesn’t have the same appeal for them as the swings. They do like to run around and pull down the highest seat clatter banging into the small pebbles. The teeter-tooters are at the far end of Tallahassee II and we’re getting ready to cycle our way back through the swings and the modular equipment.
Swings are everlasting. The appeal never seems to diminish at 50, or at 5. Nellie is now a pro at the big kid’s swings. She’ll still take a spin on the baby ones but she’s no longer limited in her choice. So quickly she’s getting to be a big girl and she’s not quite two-years-old. She’s bold enough now to do the helicopter – belly flat on the swing seat, turning herself around in circles and then letting go, legs and arms akimbo as she spins.
Noah is right at home on the modular equipment and Nellie is right behind him. There’s a double chute straight slide at one one and a banana curve single slide at the other. Joining the two components is an articulated, vulcanized rubber bridge. Exercise caution for the young ones on the bridge. It can be challenging for them to maintain their balance particularly if there are other kids running across it.
There are climbing adventures for the 3+ set – a corkscrew bar and a three-step curved ladder. There’s a little area too that can serve as a house, a shop, a school depending on the child’s inspiration and imagination. The entire playground is fenced in, has pebble infill and there are a couple of benches for parents and caregivers.
There is loads of parking in the school lot. If you’re considering public transit, the closet stop for the 60 is at the corner of Ocean Lea and and Cow Bay Road. The walk from the stop is just under ten minutes.
There are a number of attractions here in Eastern Passage and the surrounding area. Right next to the playground is the Community Garden with its chess board. This is the venue for the Annual Teddy Bear’s Picnic held during the Eastern Passage Cow Bay Summer Carnival. Down the road toward the city, is MacCormack’s Beach and Fisherman’s Cove. About five kilometres in the opposite direction is Rainbow Haven Beach.
Stay tuned for an update on the fate of Greater Halifax teeter-totters in a future post.
A scary thought that some states figure on how much to expand their prison based on the literacy levels of children in elementary school. Bookmates is a program out of The Jewish Community Center of South Jersey. Its mission is to empower at risk children to master the lifelong skill of reading, to provide them with a foundation to succeed in school and in life.
Bookmates started after President Clinton called for action for literacy. Since that time, the program is in over 29 schools and the volunteers have read to over 500 children.
I have a special interest in the literacy program plaguing the country, so I decided I wanted to become a volunteer. Last Wednesday, October the 14th, I drove up to the Jewish Community Center and attended a mandatory meeting for anyone considering volunteering. I was by far the youngest in the room by 30 years. It seems many of the other volunteers were retired school teachers. Regardless everyone was nice, and welcoming. I’m very excited to get started on the program. Hopefully, I will be assigned to Forest Hills elementary in Camden City where I will be reading to two children a week for an hour. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please email Rhonda Sharon at bookmates@jfedsnj.org
Sadly my camera decided to die as soon as I got there. Enjoy the cell phone photos I snapped:
Front of the Jewish Community Center
After the training was finished.
Wow! Our town offers really cool after school activities! If your child is interested in after school skiing or snowboarding at Mt. Southington Ski Area on 4 dates in January and February, here is the application for registration. Registration is on a first come, first served basis for 90 lucky kids on Tuesday, December 1st between 5:15 – 7:00 pm in the Weston Middle School cafeteria. No mailed registrations will be accepted.
Check the registration form for day/dates, times of departure and return from the middle school, and fees.
Chaperones that ski are needed for these 4 trips. These trips are not possible without the help of chaperones and their commitment to all 4 trips. Please leave your name with the Parks and Recreation Department Office at 222-2655. Chaperones may bring younger siblings if there are seats on the bus.
Today is World Poetry Day. We thought it would be fun to celebrate this day with some poems from CFCA staff members and Marlon, a 15-year-old young man served by the Managua project in Nicaragua. Enjoy!
La esperanza y el amorEn su corazón siempre
Debe existir la ilusión
Y la esperanza de vivir
Un nuevo Amanecer
En la vida para crear
Un mundo mejor, todos
Debemos tener amor
Un mundo donde día a día
Se respire el aire de la
Felicidad y la armonía
Si todos practicamos
Los buenos valores
Éste mundo crecerá,
Como crecen los grandes
Amores, como florecen
Las bellas flores.
In your heart always
Should exist the dream
And the hope of living
A new dawn
In life in order to create
A better world, all of us
Need to have love
A world where day after day
You breath the air of
Happiness and harmony
If we practice
Good values
This world will grow
As the greatest love grows
As the beautiful flowers blossom.
Sponsorship Haikus
By Sheila Myers, Communications Department
Mission Awareness Trip
Getting off the bus
I look for you in the crowd.
Our eyes meet. Smiles. Hugs.
Relationship
Your letter arrives,
Telling me of the mudslide.
I send you a prayer.
The Letter By Larry Livingston, U.S. Outreach Department
Today the mailman brought to me a gift as good as gold.
A letter from my sponsored friend, a wonder to behold.
Her hopes and dreams she shares with me, and what is this surprise?
A brand new picture! Grace and joy are captured in those eyes.
I never thought I’d care so much for one I’ve never met,
Or that in giving I would come to owe a happy debt.
I thought myself quite blessed, and so it seemed to me quite odd
When a child that lived in poverty revealed the face of God.
A CFCA Limerick By Larry Livingston
If God’s love is always in fashion,
Acts of kindness are nothing to ration.
So what do you say?
Join CFCA,
And help us build a world of compassion!
I am sending this out again hoping to encourage all of us to keep trying, never give up……Waimomona
I wrote about this awhile back, but I would like to say something more on it. So much has happened since then.
Why is it, in our society, we people as a whole, feel we have to go out of our way to destroy someone we are jealous of…..or don’t agree with?
I have seen this daily on the news……and have seen the effects of it on people I encounter personally. The media knows they are setting an example (for the young people, anyway). It works, I know. But are we such followers, that we can’t figure out our own morals? Don’t we read good books anymore, or the Good Book? Does the media have a monopoly on “life”? Do they even have a life? They get paid to write whatever meanness they can conjure up……..but we need to live a life that will give something to our next generation to live up to……..not down to.
There is a better way…….love and kindness. Does it sound sappy to you?
As an example, how about the men and women who have gone to Iraq to defend OUR freedom…..They are physically at the edge day and night, not sure they will return. They didn’t make the decision to do that job lightly…….they are aware they may die at any time. It is for our freedom they train and train to stay ready to defend. That is love……it isn’t spoken sweet nothings…..but a real decision to stand in harm’s way for someone they don’t know or can’t put a face to. Those who survive, the men and women who have been wounded, are frustrated they can’t go back and stand side by side with their friends and fellow soldiers.
Kindness goes hand in hand with love. Consideration for someone else above yourself. Protection of someones reputation; feelings in whatever they may be going through; remembering they are an individual with a soul.
We are truly an empty bag of skin if we don’t realize these truths…dead people walking around. http://waimomona.wordpress.com/ : )
We thought we’d try something new for this BOTC post. Of our three readers, one of you may like it and two of you may not. The following is an actual email exchange between Him and Her throughout the past week. There was no agenda or organization to this email exchange. This is simply a window into our narcissistic, barmy life.a
She Says: What is it with everyone wanting to have babies right now? And everyone asking us when we’re having kids? … I think they think because we haven’t, we can’t.
He Says: What’s up Seinfeld? Nice intro. I think it was a whole lot worse when we first got married. We were getting a lot of questions at that time about when the babies were going to start coming. It was almost as if the second we became married we had a responsibility to the world to begin reproducing. I realize that a power couple of our stature would probably make some sort of super baby, but we’ll hold off on that for now. Here’s an interesting thought, though–what other things in life have similar reactions from people? Let me explain. We got married and then people immediately began asking when we were going to have kids, as if one naturally followed the other. What other things elicit a response like this? Here’s the criteria:
1- The two situations, while having a thread of connection between them, are really non-sequitur. For example, many married people do have kids, which is the thread of connection, but that’s an inappropriate logical leap. There are plenty of married people that don’t have kids and plenty of single couples that do. So the one doesn’t really follow the other. On the other hand, asking a parent if they will home school or send their kids to public or private school is a much more natural question to ask because kids must learn, so it wouldn’t fit the criteria of being non-sequitur.
2- There is an overwhelming amount of similar responses or questions. It’s not just one or two people that respond in this way, but a startling number of people to the point that you almost question yourself for thinking any other way.
3- The questions or responses are seemingly inconsequential. In other words, we’re not looking into deep societal or political issues. No one is going to be emblazoned with passion or anger because of the question. The questions are harmless in nature, but after it happening so many times in a row, become noticeable and annoying.
That’s it. Those are the criteria. Here’s what I can come up with off the top of my head.
~ Asking a married couple when they are going to have kids right after they are married.
~ Asking a college graduate what they want to do with their life. It seems like it makes sense, since they are just finishing one stage of their life and moving into “the real world,” but it reality, what does “what I want to do with my life” have anything to do with graduating. I’m almost 30 and I still don’t know what I want to do with my life. I know 40-yr olds that still don’t know. Why does everyone ask college graduates ad nauseum some variation of this question?
~ Asking a dating couple when they are going to tie the knot. This one is similar to the baby one, in the sense that marriage can often be the next step after dating, but there are many people that date for plenty of other reasons. In fact, I would bet there are more people that date for other reasons than marriage than there are people that don’t. Why is it always assumed that marriage is the logical next step?
I’m sure there are plenty for the second two thirds of life as well, but my experience in that area has been limited thus far. You have any suggestions for this list?
She Says: Er … you went all lawyer on me with all this talk of sequential questioning and deductive reasoning. To be perfectly honest, people will ask these questions for one of two reasons, or perhaps for both reasons: 1. They have nothing else to say in a chitty-chatty conversation so they drum up a typical “so … about the weather” inquiry, or 2. because they are selfish.
I say this keeping in mind that many a time I have inquired with someone about a next step simply because I have nothing else to say or am selfishly trying to figure out their personal business. Case in point, a lunch date with a new girlfriend. She’s newly divorced and previous topics have been beaten to death, so I quickly inquire “So what will dating look like for you now?” And .. cue the tears (hers, not mine … although I could have cried from awkwardness at this point in time). In reality, I wasn’t trying to be rude. I was saving myself the pain of a silent lunch because I hate quiet, lame conversation and I wanted to know how quickly she intended to hop in the sack with the next guy. It’s the same that could be said for someone who asks us about when I plan to squeeze a ten pound human out of my lady parts. They more than likely have nothing else to say to us, or it’s my mother –or the like–who really, really, really, really, really wants her first grandchild. People that know us well, know that there will be a day at some point in time where we’ll either say “we’re having a kid” or “we’re flying solo on this one so we can rock out and travel and drink all the time.”All I have to say is that people in general should be careful of the kids question, if not for the sole reason that some people cannot have children–while desparately wanting a biological baby–and can be very scarred by the circumstance. One of the worst feelings occurs when you ask a couple about procreation and they stare blankly while saying “we actually just found out we’ll never be able to have kids.” Ouch.
He Says: Before I respond, I hope by “flying solo on this one” you mean in the Biblical sense or the Spice Girls‘ sense. Because if not, this would be a very strange forum to broach the conversation.
Back to the discussion, however. I think you missed what I was trying to get at. My point was that friends, family and society think it is a natural step to go from marriage to kids, but that’s not really the case. The one doesn’t necessarily follow the other. So despite the fact that someone is bored or filling awkward silences doesn’t change the fact that they are making a logical leap from one occurrence to the other with only a tentative thread between them. But now I’m boring even myself.
You brought up the situation of awkward questions or comments, which made me think of this situation that happened to me the other day. You obviously know I love the show “How I Met Your Mother.” Well the other day there was a line that I found humorous and wanted to text to another friend who also enjoys the show. What line was it you ask? I’ll tell you. “I will plow her like a corn field.” Now, you know I would never get into such crass and raunchy humor as that, but I also enjoy puns, so I couldn’t resist laughing. Anyway, here’s the awkward thing. When I went to text the line to my buddy, I accidentally texted it to another friend I play basketball with. Unfortunately for me, this friend is married with kids and has an open marriage with his wife. He is convinced that monogamous relationships just don’t work. Again unfortunately for me, he now thinks I accidentally sent that text to him, but that I was out cheating on you that night. Awkward. Can’t wait to see him again and try to explain why I sent that text. No, I wasn’t cheating on my wife, I swear. I’m just a big dork and I was texting a line from a sitcom.
That brings up an interesting topic, though–open marriages. (And no, I’m not interested in one in the least. Don’t get so excited). I think most people would say they don’t work. I wouldn’t come down with such a definitive assessment, but I do tend to think there probably needs to be more of a business relationship at that point. By that I mean that there probably has to be a reason such as kids or money keeping the couple together. Either they’re staying together for the kids or they’re staying together for financial reasons. The divorce is just too expensive and splitting up would hurt their current income. (Think any high-powered politician. Zing!) I will say this, however, one thing that is commendable for couples in this situation is that at least they’re being honest with each other and recognize the situation for what it is, rather than cheating on the other or not addressing the situation at all. There’s something to be said for that, right? (I think the Love Doctor’s Love Bytes blog to the right just self-combusted).
She Says: Well first and foremost, the couple you’re addressing doesn’t have an open marriage. He cheats on her. She probably has a sneaking suspicion, but she stays with it for whatever reason–she has low self esteem, she wants her baby daddy to be around, or she just plain doesn’t care.
Secondly, this part of the conversation brings us full circle on the topic of having children. I would never have one to save our marriage or to keep a husband around. A baby can be a distraction and more often than not, you see couples divorce after 30 years (or realize they’re complete strangers) because their kids are out of the house and they’ve spent so much time parenting, that they’ve forgotten to pay attention to one another. Point being, people will have kids for all sorts of reasons – unfortunately. For myself, however, I want to have kids when I know I’ve checked off the list of things I’d like to do that having a child can sometimes make difficult, if not impossible. I’m ready to travel, to get smarter, to learn more about home making, to rediscover the things I like doing but ignored because I was work obsessed, to take care of myself, and to better understand my husband so if and when we do have a child, we’re on solid ground as a couple. So for all the people determined to convince the childless how great having a kid is, we know. We know they’re cute, and cuddly, and could be money makers or someone to be proud of, and then some. But let’s face it … I’m pretty cute, and pretty cuddly, and could be someone to be proud of too. So for now, I’m sticking with myself, and that husband of mine.Adult Party Drink Recipes
Blood-Orange Mimosas
From VampHalloween (link is still dead – oddly appropriate)
Okay, first things, first: What is a blood orange? I myself hadn’t even heard of them until I started research recipes for this year’s Halloween. Well, here’s the scoop: It’s a sweet-tart orange with a bright red or red-streaked white flesh. Most blood oranges are best eaten fresh, but the more acidic varieties like the Maltese work well in cooked sauces. They can be found at specialty produce markets. It’s recommended to use a good-quality California or Spanish sparkling wine for this recipe. Both are widely available and less expensive than Champagne.
Ingredients:
In a pitcher gently stir together Mimosa ingredients.
8 Servings.
Great Pumpkin Punch
from "The (Un)Official Internet Bartender’s Guide"
Ingredients:
Serve in a hollowed out pumpkin with floating pumpkin chunks.
Kid Party Drink Recipes
Vampyre Punch
From Kristin
Ingredients:
Put all ingredients in a punch bowl. Add ice cubes just before serving.
Makes 14 cs.
Witches’ Brew Punch
From Mighty Cool
Preparation Time: 10 minutes.
Cooking Time: about 15 minutes total for simmering juices. Serves: many little goblins.
Ingredients:
In your "cauldron," bring one c of cranberry juice and candied ginger to a boil over a high heat. Boil, uncovered, for about two minutes and set aside. With a vegetable peeler, peel the zest from the oranges and cut the peel into thin 2-inch-long worms. Add the peel to the cranberry mixture. Cover and chill for at least four hours or overnight. Juice the oranges and put juice into a large pan or heavy bowl. Sir in the cranberry-ginger mix, the remaining 3 cs of cranberry juice, apple juice and grapes. Cover and chill for up to two hours. After fully chilled mix in ginger ale and serve.
Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.
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Connecticut Appleseed is a non-partisan group whose mission is to develop solutions for Connecticut’s social problems. One aim of the Connecting through Literacy Incarcerated Parents, Children and Caregivers program is to help heal strained relationships by improving everyone’s literacy skills. They have a curriculum developed by Columbia Teacher’s College that “uses literacy training, reading and email-based discussions about books as vehicles to improve communications.” They recruit volunteer e-mentors from Connecticut corporations. They seek financial donations from individuals and corporations.
Sorry I have been out of touch — it has been a whirlwind few days! This year I was contacted to be the official photographer for Janie and Jack’s 2009 promotion here in Boston… the shoot lasted three days, and I had the privilege of meeting some of the cutest kids around! It was a lot of hard work, but well worth it!! Check out the fresh faces below that are the stars of this year’s Janie and Jack promotion – a big thank you to all of the parents who signed model releases so that I could share a “sneak peek” at some of the photos from the three day photo shoot — here on my blog
Looking to book a professional photo session for your child? Contact Diana Sechrist at info@dianasechrist.com – or- visit www.dianasechrist.com for more information!
#gallery-2 { margin: auto; } #gallery-2 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-2 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-2 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; }Looking to book a photo session for your child? Contact Diana Sechrist at info@dianasechrist.com – or- visit www.dianasechrist.com for more information!
When I make a visit to the doctor–you can correctly assume that I am somewhat of a hypochondriac–I expect helpful advice. I did not go to medical school for six years, so fix me, doc!
In his recent Huffington Post article, North Atlantic Books author Dana Ullman reveals the benefits of running a fever, something many, including myself, would not believe if this homeopathic author had not provided tangible facts. In his article Ullman presents how “a fever enables the body to increase its production of interferon, an important antiviral substance that is critical for fighting infection. Fever also increases white blood cell mobility and activity, which are instrumental factors in fighting infection.” Let my fever run its course? If you say so! To run a fever is to fight your illness.
Ullman, whose works include The Homeopathic Revolution, The One Minute (Or So) Healer, and Discovering Homeopathy, questions the intentions of medical practitioners and how everything they are not saying is affecting the populace. Why are doctors prescribing Aspirin and Tylenol for fevers? Why are we suppressing our body’s natural defenses? Our immune systems exist for a reason; we were built to self-sustain our sicknesses, or to attempt it, at least.
There are certain reasons to seek professional care, of course. Ullman recommends to “seek medical care if one’s fever is above 104 degrees for over six hours or in any fever in an infant under four months of age.”
Ullman references Sanjay Gupta, an MD who contracted the H1NI flu while reporting in Afghanistan. Away from home and located in a war zone, Gupta attempted to quickly relieve his illness by taking Tylenol. This proved to be a shoddy move, which heightened his symptoms and hindered his body’s infection-fighting defenses. Ullman hopes his article will inspire Gupta (and others) to educate the public against fever-reducing drugs.
Gupta had the choice in taking medication; many do not have this freedom. Children treated by concerned parents may be better off once their parents are exposed to Ullman’s article, which reveals the results of a 2007 survey of Australian parents, published in a pediatrics journal and notes that “a shocking 91% of parents used fever-suppressing drugs in the treatment of their children’s fever.” What surprised me about this study was the follow-up fact: 44% of the children given fever medicine either refused or spit out the medicine, meaning that over 64% force-fed it to their child. This piece of information reminds me of the saying: “Don’t believe everything you hear.” In the case of our loved ones, we owe it to them to explore into their wellbeing.
The many effects of Tylenol and Aspirin are later exposed: “Children who get a viral infection and are given aspirin can lead to Reye’s syndrome, a serious neurological condition that can cause death. Aspirin is also known to thin the blood and increase the chances of various bleeding disorders. Its use more or less doubles the risk of a severe gastrointestinal event, which in most cases can lead to hospitalization. Lower doses that people take to reduce heart problems only seem to decrease these risks by a small amount.”
Fear not! Safer solutions exist! Ullman suggests taking a more natural approach to treating ailments, which can “mimic and augment the wisdom of the body.”
The most popular homeopathic medicine for the flu is called Oscillococcinum, (what a mouthful!) which is a medicine that has been used since the early 1900’s. “There have been four controlled studies that have shown that this medicine is effective in reducing the symptoms of influenza as compared with those people given a placebo,” states Ullman.
An alternative homeopathic medicine, known as Gripp-Heel, proved to also be effective. “67.9% of patients were considered asymptomatic at the end of Gripp-Heel therapy vs. 47.9% of patients in the control group… Tolerability and compliance were ‘very good’ given for 88.9% of patients in the homoeopathic group vs. 38.8% in the conventional treatment group.”
Other homeopathic medicines include Gelsemium, Byronia, Ipecacuanha, Arsenicum album, Eupatorium perf., Rhus toxicodendron, and Baptisia. “Each of these medicines has a history of efficacy in homeopathic doses for treating the specific syndrome of symptoms that each has been found to cause when given experimentally in overdose to healthy people.”
Winter is slowly edging forward; I can feel it in my chilled fingertips as I type this article. I hope those who read this article will look into Dana Ullman’s writings and allow their bodies to run their natural course. For now, keep warm and stay healthy!
CLICK HERE to read the complete Huffington Post article.
CLICK HERE to learn more about Dana Ullman’s books.
*Special thanks to Nicole Leontiades, Editorial Intern, for contributing this post.
Be Strong In The Grace
2 Timothy 2:1
You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
The love of God was shown in all of its power and glory when Jesus came to this earth to suffer and die for our sins. When Jesus came God was being gracious to each of us.
We did not deserve God’s love, but God loved us anyway. That is grace.
We did not deserve to have all our sins atoned for, but God had Jesus suffer and die that our every sin would be fully paid for by faith in Jesus. That is grace.
We do not deserve to actually have God live in our hearts, but He wants us to be His holy temples anyway. That is grace.
We do not deserve to be called the children of God, but God longs to gather us together in His arms and call us His dearly beloved children. That is grace.
In all this grace God wants us to be strong. So, when temptations come our way, we remember how dearly God loves us in Christ Jesus, and receive the strength to resist that temptation.
When we are lonely and need comfort, we remember the grace of God’s love and let Him gather us in His arms as we dwell on His word and promises. When we have sinned, we remember God’s promise of forgiveness for Jesus’ sake and repent before our Lord, accepting the grace of His forgiveness.
In every part of our lives we can turn to the grace that is in Christ Jesus — the love that God has demonstrated to us in Christ. As we remember and give thanks for everything God has done for us, we will be strong in His grace. Then we can know the peace that passes all understanding as we lean on the grace of God to guide us each day.
As we grow in God’s grace, we say, “Hallelujah! My Lord, I will praise Your name forever because Your grace is ever faithful.”
Love,
Margaret
A devotional to glorify the LORD of lords and King of kings…
**************
Several notes on this subject tonight… Firstly my ongoing frantic water treading to keep up to date in order to teach my lovelies the best I can my bestest favorite subject. So, technically me warping their fragile little minds. But anyways, my course site is developing weekly and I’m starting to get rather proud of my collection of lessons – I’ve worked flipping hard on this lot (way more hours than I’m paid for, but I wouldn’t be happy unless it was done as best as I can), so here’s the linky to the site just because I’m all proud of them! Why is it online for all to see? Well, because it contains all my lesson notes and is a revision guide for the students and so could be used by anyone taking a level computing (the new AQA course) – I’m nice like that. (btw, if you are going to pilfer any of it, please give me a mention!)
Saying that, I have my first official inspection tomorrow
So other fragile little minds… best child quote of the week goes to my friend’s son *drum roll please*…… “ooooh Octo Doctorpus is baaaad…. ooh Octo Doctorpus is good now! Ooooooh Octo Doctorpus is baaaaad” rinse and repeat. The mind of a three year old is an amazing place.
That possibley beats all midget’s quotes this week so far (including Midget’s greeting to the cat today which was along the lines of ‘ooh hello sharka, I drew a picture of you today becuase you’re soft and I like stroking you and your food smells funny’). Sadly, mini midget has not provided me with any printable quotes as her terrible twos, which initially we thought had lasted 3 days have made a terrible comeback. It’s more like horredous threes, not only can she scream, she can vocalise quite how angry she is – it’s like watching the incredible hulk. I swear, if she turned green and ripped off her shirt I wouldn’t be surprised. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen ‘angry knees’ – this involves not getting her way until she has to have this sort of standing up fit where she closes her eyes and buckles repeatedly at the knees in a sort of I-can’t-get-my-way jerky style. I’ve not managed to stifle laughter when she does it yet….
This evening was another nice evening at the gym with Kitty, (or Cate the Homemaker as I may refer to her hehe) – Perfect way to take my mind off the evils of inspection tomorrow morning!!
So an evening of giggles, and putting the world to right. We have made the decision that we are truly middle class, and actually we’re quite comfortable with that. Consider the conversation – we’re talking about the kids at school and the nice songs the girls have come home singing recently, our husbands jobs and travelling over to Ireland next year for a double family holiday. This conversation took place as we’re having a gentle evening swim at the local David Lloyd pool, after which we stopped for a drink and a chat while our husbands were looking after the kids. To top this, while I’m teaching I’ve noticed that I’ve started making ‘posh noise’ when exaplaining a concept that requires any form of diplomacy. For those of you who don’t understand posh noise – listen to Mr Johnson over there speak – at least 1/3 of any speach will consist of posh noise – these are the weird ‘I’m thinking, or stalling while trying to think’ noises that many people brought up on the finer side of British life make. It’s that stammery posh type noises in between most words of the majority of public school boys – think Hugh Grant if Boris is too disturbing!
The usual stuff – 3dpo (maybe), temps are at 97.8 again – not high enough to denote a proper thermal shift. I shall continue to grumble under my breath about the lack of ovulation indication. However, the bbs are so sore I’m having to wear a bra??! Very odd.
So I shall leave you with a final funny that Mr T showed me yesterday – rather apt and very funny methinks:
We’d like to thank all of you who came to the Frying Pan on Sunday to make the first annual “Water Not Weapons Day” a tremendous success. We’d especially like to thank Joel Landy, Phil Sauers, Pete Seeger (seen with Cecilia St. King in this video), the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, and the New York City Friends of Clearwater, who made this wonderful experience possible. Special thanks are also in order for Victorio Roland Mousaa, Ray Corona, Caitlin O’Heaney, Chris Lang, Emma Graves, Harvey Newman, Jenny Hurwitz, Jacob Bernz, Sarah Armour, Walker Rumpf, AnnaRose, and Caron Eule; who with her C. Eule Dancers staged the premier performance of The Faucets are Dripping. And the event would not have been complete without Gloria Waslyn and her Parrots for Peace (Baby added some drama to the proceedings), and Mary Poppiins.
Thirty years ago today I received the first of three wonderful gifts that would forever change and enrich my life. I was 27 years old and knew little of what to expect when this little soft bundle was laid in my arms. I can remember almost being afraid to hold her, afraid that she might break. Yet as I touched that soft little cheek and gazed on that sweet little face, I knew this had to be the best feeling in the world.
Scarcely one and a half years earlier, I had not been as fortunate. The soft little bundle that was laid in my arms then was not wiggling or squirming. Those little eyes would never open to see her Mom or Dad’s face. My first time to see her would also be my last. Being a Mom then didn’t feel so good. It hurt.
Through the years, and two more precious babies later, there have been ups and downs, good times and bad times, but I have to admit that even at those times when it hurt, I felt so thankful to be a Mom. What a privilege that God entrusted these precious lives to two, inexperienced young people to train and bring up in His nurture and admonition. I’m sure I often wondered what God must have been thinking since I felt so unqualified for the task. I often felt like Solomon who after becoming King of Israel prayed to God, “Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.” (1 Kings 3:7) There were times when I definitely did not know whether to go out or come in, whether to say yes or no, agree or disagree, laugh or punish, stand firm or give in, hang on or give up. Yet one thing I quickly learned as a new parent was that my inexperience was more than offset by God’s grace. God was always faithful to hear me when I called and like the psalmist I could say “In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.” (Psalm 94:19)
And now, thirty years later, I am so thankful that God heard my prayer and let me be a Mom. Just as God heard Hannah’s prayer and blessed her with Samuel (1 Samuel 1-2), so He heard my prayer and blessed me with Stacy. And just as He visited Hannah again and blessed her with three more sons and two daughters, He blessed me with another daughter and son, Karla and Blake. Isn’t God good? He is not a far off God that is just concerned with important people and things. He comes near to even somebody like me, sees my need, and blesses me beyond anything I even knew to ask. Dear God, I thank You!
O Father, my Father,
Creator of all,
You orchestrate kingdoms
Yet hear when I call.
All power, all majesty,
You hold in Your hand,
Yet love beyond measure
You offer to man.
Giver of hope,
Grantor of dreams,
Thank You for loving
And caring for me.
Now that Che had passed the first trimester of her third baby, I can finally say it:
I’m going to be an aunt again!!!
When Seth was one, I told my sis jokingly: “Eh, time to have a third one. Seth is growing up and not cute anymore.”
Hur hur hur hur.
Wheeeeee!!
But we dunno the gender yet. I’m quite excited by either a boy or a girl (maybeeee I’m slanted towards having a boy a teeny weeny more) but Matt obviously wishes it’s a girl, seeing how much he dotes on Kiks.
And oh! Matt’s gonna be a first-time uncle too!! Rob and Kristy, Matt’s big bro and sis-in-law, are expecting a boy! Both babies are due around the same period, next Mar/Apr.
This reminds me that we’re all growing older! But the kinda joy that babies and toddlers bring… That’s irreplaceable.
Julia Steiny
If the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s most recent report had been an international comparison of test scores, the media would have gone berserk. Negativity certainly erupts when ODEC releases the results of their Programme for International Student Assessment test, since it generally shows U.S. students performing poorly compared with their peers in other industrialized nations. The PISA tests invariably get lots of press, with experts making dire predictions that our under-skilled kids and lackluster schools are taking us down to economic ruin.
ODEC is a Paris-based organization that collects and monitors statistics on 30 industrialized countries.
But ODEC’s most recent report, “Doing Better for Children,” examines child well-being, not test scores. Education data are included, but the focus is poverty, teen-parenting, environmental quality, and telling measures like whether kids have desks, calculators and other basic tools to do schoolwork at home. (Forty-eight percent of U.S. children do not. The ODEC average is 35.)
In short, by ODEC’s measures, the U.S. does a wretched job of caring for its children. The statistics are appalling. So why wouldn’t the press care?
Perhaps it’s because pundits rarely concern themselves with the dysfunctional families that produce the kids who score badly on tests. By averaging all U.S. children together, ODEC’s statistics mask the evidence that we, the social class, which includes pundits, take superb care of our children. Our kids are the ones who are most likely to be just fine. We don’t really want to think about those other families, because, well, if you don’t have anything nice to say …
Still, here is a sampling of ODEC’s stats:
Only Luxembourg (population 490,000) has families with a higher disposable income than the families in the U.S. On average, we’re rich people.
However, the U.S. has a sky-high rate of childhood poverty, topped only by Poland, Mexico and Turkey. Roughly 21 percent of America’s kids are born and raised under the poverty level set by the federal government, a ridiculously low threshold of $22,000 for a family of four. Do the math. You can’t live on that here. A more realistic measure would greatly raise the percentage of children in poverty. The average childhood-poverty rate among the ODEC countries was 12 percent. Unlikely countries like Hungary and the Czech Republic beat the pants off us.
The U.S. has high infant mortality rates, and high numbers of babies born underweight.
Particularly alarming is our high rate of teen births, the second worst rate after Mexico. Our rate is 50 births per 1,000; the ODEC average is 15.5. Our babies are having babies, forming new families very likely to be incompetent, and very likely to keep the cycle going.
And education? The educational achievement of our 15-year-olds is the seventh worst among the countries studied. But more upsetting is the measure of the gaps between the highest student achievers and the lowest, which for us is sixth worst in the comparison. In other words, if you’re a privileged American kid, and you can keep from wrecking your own self by getting spoiled and disaffected, you’re on track for a promising future.
Since the U.S. is a large country, in absolute numbers lots of American kids are succeeding brilliantly. In the last PISA test (2006), just under 70,000 American kids were deemed top performers. Finland may be the highest performing country overall, but it’s tiny, with roughly 1,000 academic hotshots.
So it’s by no means all of our kids who are going to wrack and ruin. But lots of them are. Many children fend for themselves, with poor family support, on track for truly dismal futures. Our burgeoning prisons are only one image of where that track sometimes leads.
So here’s what that report says to me: Help the families. Many American families are in trouble. Deep trouble. Half the parents divorce, if they marry at all. We are generations away from extended families or high-functioning faith-based or ethnic communities that could provide social safety nets, advice and respite for overwhelmed or clueless parents. In their isolation, many families get most of their parenting tips from TV’s powerful suggestions to spoil the children with shiny junk.
The schools resent the families’ disengagement, and for good reason. The public resents women having babies they can’t support, for good reason. We don’t like those families, and given our resentment, we leave it up to them to fix themselves.
But the time for resentment is past. The ODEC report shows us to be in crisis already.
In general, a kid is only as healthy as his family, only as high-functioning. Even if test scores were the gold standard of childhood health, our obsessive, narrow focus on the functioning of the schools is never going to yield the achievement we want.
The key to deep, lasting improvement of the schools would be to launch a companion effort to shore up the families, with reformed attitudes and policies. How have other countries reduced teen birth rates or, most critically, childhood poverty?
For that we’ll need some clear-sighted thinking about modern families, their needs and isolated circumstances. The other industrialized nations have policy strategies for supporting families, and they do far better than we do, including producing students with better test scores. The ODEC report references a number of documents outlining such national strategies. We should be looking to them.
And wondering why on earth we have so little interest in the people who are the most important in our children’s lives.
Julia Steiny, a former member of the Providence School Board, consults for government agencies and schools; she is co-director of Information Works!, Rhode Island’s school-accountability project. She can be reached at juliasteiny@gmail.com, or c/o EdWatch, The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902.
Today was the day that I had secretly been dreading. We usually go on a family outing on Saturday – were we going to be tempted to spend? Would all this week get washed down the drain by one day? I looked up the word detox and in Wikipedia it said that a detox diet “involving a change in consumption habits in an attempt to remove toxins from the body”. This last week has been made me change some of my habits, and helped remove some of the toxic thoughts that were in my head like “just buy it”, “you need it”, “it will be fine” and finally “go for the activities that cost money, because they are the fun ones”.
How we spent day 6:
MONEY SPENT TODAY: $0.00
THINGS I HAVE LEARNED TODAY:
By Beth Walker
Understanding and using the tax code to your advantage is critical during the college years. Your ability to shift income from your higher tax bracket into your child’s lower tax bracket creates cash flow that can be redirected from the IRS to the college or university.
This is the single most powerful tool in your arsenal and not one your tax advisor is likely to suggest.
Go easy on your tax advisor… they are literally trained to look at life through the rear-view mirror. We pay them to tell us what happened in the past year and make sure all the boxes are filled in correctly. They simply do not spend most of their time in a “what if…” world. If you have a tax advisor that is an exception to this rule, make sure you thank them frequently and pay them well!
The real benefit of a “tax scholarship” is three-fold:
I know what you’re thinking… what can I possibly pay my son or daughter to do that would allow me to legally pay them $100 to $1000 per month when they can’t even seem to keep their room clean or stay on top of their homework? That is another detailed report all together, but here are some thought-starters for your consideration:
a) be a model for your brochures, website, or marketing materials
b) clean and dust your office or home office
c) pick up trash in your parking lot and wash the windows
d) create monthly reports for your investment accounts
e) shred or file papers
f) help you move your office
g) do research for you on the internet
h) take care of rental property
i) have them own equipment you make lease payments to use
j) become the runner that shuttles documents or lab results
Think for just a minute about all the things you pay people to do for you.
Depending on your business structure or relationship with your employer, you can have your entity hire your child or hire them as a sole proprietor. You may even have a working spouse that can hire them in a business unrelated to your medical practice.
The key here is to do it right, document it correctly, and bank the benefits of income shifting and tax credits.
Focus #2 Will Be Posted Soon – Come Back.
www.teddecorte.com
